Is Totonicapán safe?
Guatemala · North America · data updated 2026-09-04
Totonicapán is a city in Guatemala, home to about 113k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,896 of 6,168, with a safety score of 38.2 out of 100 - in the lower part of the ranking, and the numbers below explain why.
Emergency Fire and Ambulance 122 or 123 · Police 110
- US State Department: Reconsider travelOfficial travel advisory level 3 of 4 for Guatemala, updated 2026-03-11.
- UK FCDO advises against all but essential travel to parts of this country2 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- Very high homicide rate22.76 homicides per 100,000 per year (national rate), about 8× the global city median.
- High income inequalityGini 45.2 puts Guatemala in the most unequal quarter of countries - the strongest structural predictor of city violence in this dataset (street crime and robbery tend to track it).
Deadliest recorded locations nearby
- Bárcenas, Villa Nueva8 deaths · 2 events
- Tiquisate, Escuintla6 deaths · 1 event
UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Totonicapán, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- within 5km of the Mexican border from the Pacific Coast up to and including the Gracias a Dios crossing
- to the towns of Santa Ana Huista, San Antonio Huista and La Democracia in the department of Huehuetenango
Named in the official UK travel advice for Guatemala (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Totonicapán.
How safe is Totonicapán really?
No published homicide figure exists for Totonicapán itself, so the national rate stands in: Guatemala recorded 23 homicides per 100,000 people in 2024 - roughly 8 times the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. That matters because income inequality is the strongest structural predictor of city violence in this dataset, and Guatemala's Gini of 45.2 puts it in the most unequal quarter of countries - conditions under which street crime and robbery tend to be a real concern.
Totonicapán also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 61 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 36 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were Bárcenas, Villa Nueva (8 deaths), Tiquisate, Escuintla (6 deaths).
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Guatemala at level 3 of 4 - "Reconsider travel" (updated 2026-03-11). The UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to parts of this country, naming 2 specific areas - listed above with the official advisory linked for exact boundaries and exceptions. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.
What to watch out for in Guatemala
Terrorism in Guatemala · Political situation · Violent crime · Protecting yourself and your belongings · Buses and coaches · ATM tampering · Fake police officers · Scams · Criminal kidnapping · Personal ID · Alcohol laws and bans · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · Taking photos without permission · LGBT+ travellers · +7 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Guatemala — country-level, not specific to Totonicapán. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 23 /100knational rate, 2024 · ~8× the global city median
- Conflict deaths
- 61within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 45.2country, 2023
- Human development
- HDI 0.662country, 2023
- Income
- $15,020/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 113kurban centre · 2,896/km²
- Nearest airport
- 98 kmLa Aurora International Airport (GUA)
Straight-line distance from the city centre, not drive time. Scheduled-service airports only (OurAirports).
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 22.9 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 62/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 40/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 26/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 5.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.56Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 29.7 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 49%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 1.3 doctors /1k0.5 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 0 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Guatemala
- Earthquake
- 9.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 6.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 4.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Cyclone
- 3.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 3.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Guatemala as a whole, not Totonicapán specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Guatemala (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Guatemala; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Totonicapán that gives 38.2/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Totonicapán compared with Quetzaltenango
| Measure | Totonicapán | Quetzaltenango | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 38.2 | 40.4 | −2.2 — better for Quetzaltenango |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 23 /100k | 23 /100k | ±0.0 /100k |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 61 | 27 | +34 — better for Quetzaltenango |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Guatemala, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Quetzaltenango →
Nearby cities
- Quetzaltenango 40.4
- Mazatenango 38.7
- San Pedro Sacatepéquez [San Marcos] 36.9
- Coatepeque 39.8
- Chimaltenango 39.3
- Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa 39.0
- Antigua Guatemala 34.0
- San Pedro Sacatepéquez 34.0
See Totonicapán on the interactive map → · Safest cities in North America → · Full travel briefings →