Is Vilnius safe?
Lithuania · Europe · data updated 2026-09-04
Vilnius is a city in Lithuania, home to about 338k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 2,972 of 6,168, with a safety score of 73.9 out of 100, placing it clearly above the global midpoint.
Emergency 112 (ambulance, fire, police)
No official source names specific areas to avoid here: travel advisories for Lithuania are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.
How safe is Vilnius really?
The most direct evidence is measured in the city itself: Vilnius recorded 2.0 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2022 - close to the global city median. Lithuania's income inequality is middling (Gini 36.0) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Lithuania at level 1 of 4 - "Exercise normal precautions" (updated 2026-04-27). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for Lithuania without any avoid-travel warning in force. 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 Lithuania
Protecting your belongings · Drink and food spiking · Illegal drugs · LGBT+ travellers · Road travel · Taxis · Drone activity · Curonian Spit, Klaipeda
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Lithuania — country-level, not specific to Vilnius. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 2.0 /100kcity-measured, 2022
- Conflict deaths
- 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 36.0country, 2023
- Human development
- HDI 0.895country, 2023
- Income
- $55,010/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 338kurban centre · 4,120/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 8.1 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 82/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 81/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 65/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 2.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.89Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 10.7 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 97%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 4.5 doctors /1k5.7 hospital beds per 1,000
Natural hazards in Lithuania
- Flood
- 5.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 2.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Lithuania as a whole, not Vilnius specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Lithuania (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Lithuania; 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 Vilnius that gives 73.9/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Vilnius compared with Minsk
| Measure | Vilnius | Minsk | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 73.9 | 81.5 | −7.6 — better for Minsk |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 2.0 /100k | 1.5 /100k | +0.5 /100k — better for Minsk |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 0 | 0 | ±0 |
| Income inequality (Gini) | 36.0 | 24.4 | +11.6 — better for Minsk |
| Human development (HDI) | 0.895 | 0.824 | +0.071 — better for Vilnius |
| Road deaths | 8.1 /100k | 7.6 /100k | +0.5 /100k — better for Minsk |
| Rule of law | 81/100 | 36/100 | +45/100 — better for Vilnius |
| Corruption perceptions | 65/100 | 31/100 | +34/100 — better for Vilnius |
| Air quality (PM2.5) | 10.7 µg/m³ | 12.0 µg/m³ | −1.3 µg/m³ — better for Vilnius |
| Natural-hazard risk | 2.1/10 | 2.4/10 | −0.3/10 — better for Vilnius |
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 Minsk →
Nearby cities
- Kaunas 78.8
- Hrodna, Belarus 81.5
- Minsk, Belarus 81.5
- Baranavichy, Belarus 81.5
- Zhodzina, Belarus 81.5
- Białystok, Poland 85.8
- Achotnica, Belarus 81.5
- Riga, Latvia 69.4
See Vilnius on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Europe → · Full travel briefings →