Is Urmia safe?
Iran · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04
Urmia is a city in Iran, home to about 698k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 4,564 of 6,168, with a safety score of 58.5 out of 100 - mid-table: neither the data for concern nor the data for reassurance dominates.
Emergency Ambulance 115 · Fire 125 · Police 110
- US State Department: Do not travelOfficial travel advisory level 4 of 4 for Iran, updated 2025-12-04.
- UK FCDO advises against all travel to this countryOfficial UK government travel advice, updated 2026-08-13.
- Same-sex activity criminalized - death penalty in lawLaw on the books in Iran as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.
Deadliest recorded locations nearby
- Yüksekova district12 deaths · 5 events
- Soran district7 deaths · 2 events
- Piranshahr5 deaths · 5 events
UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Urmia, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.
How safe is Urmia really?
No published homicide figure exists for Urmia itself, so the national rate stands in: Iran recorded 2.4 homicides per 100,000 people in 2014 - close to the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Iran's income inequality is middling (Gini 35.9) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.
Urmia also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 133 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 98 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were Yüksekova district (12 deaths), Soran district (7 deaths), Piranshahr (5 deaths).
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Iran at level 4 of 4 - "Do not travel" (updated 2025-12-04). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to this country. 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 Iran
Terrorism in Iran · Leaving Iran in an emergency · Consular, welfare and family access while in detention · Protests · Activities that put you at risk · Border areas · Scams · Methanol poisoning · Money · Surrogacy and adoption · Ramadan · Dress codes · Relationships between men and women · LGBT+ relationships · +15 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Iran — country-level, not specific to Urmia. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 2.4 /100knational rate, 2014
- Conflict deaths
- 133within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 35.9country, 2023
- Human development
- HDI 0.799country, 2023
- Income
- $19,660/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 698kurban centre · 6,981/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 21.5 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 39/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 36/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 23/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 5.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.61Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 40.2 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 94%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 1.8 doctors /1k1.9 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 2 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Iran
- Earthquake
- 9.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 7.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 6.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 5.5/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Cyclone
- 1.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Iran as a whole, not Urmia specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Iran, with the death penalty applying in law (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.
All country-level figures shared by every city in Iran; 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 Urmia that gives 58.5/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Urmia compared with Yüksekova
| Measure | Urmia | Yüksekova | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 58.5 | 49.8 | +8.7 — better for Urmia |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 2.4 /100k | 2.4 /100k | −0.0 /100k |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 133 | 783 | −650 — better for Urmia |
| Income inequality (Gini) | 35.9 | 43.7 | −7.8 — better for Urmia |
| Human development (HDI) | 0.799 | 0.853 | −0.054 — better for Yüksekova |
| Road deaths | 21.5 /100k | 6.7 /100k | +14.8 /100k — better for Yüksekova |
| Rule of law | 36/100 | 42/100 | −6/100 — better for Yüksekova |
| Corruption perceptions | 23/100 | 31/100 | −8/100 — better for Yüksekova |
| Air quality (PM2.5) | 40.2 µg/m³ | 26.4 µg/m³ | +13.8 µg/m³ — better for Yüksekova |
| Natural-hazard risk | 5.8/10 | 5.2/10 | +0.6/10 — better for Yüksekova |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Country-level rows describe the two countries, not the cities themselves. Full report for Yüksekova →
Nearby cities
- Yüksekova, Turkey 49.8
- Salmas 61.5
- Mahabad 58.8
- Maragheh 64.4
- Soran, Iraq 47.2
- Khoy 68.0
- Miandoab 62.7
- Marand 68.0
See Urmia on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →