Wellington scores 81 out of 100 (very high safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 1834 of 6168 cities worldwide. The score combines the homicide rate, nearby conflict deaths, income equality and human development from published data (UNODC, UCDP, World Bank, UNDP).

Is Wellington safe?

New Zealand · Oceania · data updated 2026-09-04

80.6Very high · rank 1834 / 6,168
safer than 70% of ranked cities

Wellington is a city in New Zealand, home to about 149k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 1,834 of 6,168, with a safety score of 80.6 out of 100 - among the safest cities in this dataset.

US 1/4 Exercise normal precautions

Emergency 111 (ambulance, fire, police)

No official source names specific areas to avoid here: travel advisories for New Zealand are country-level, and no published dataset covers neighborhood-level crime - so this briefing does not invent it.

How safe is Wellington really?

No published homicide figure exists for Wellington itself, so the national rate stands in: New Zealand recorded 1.5 homicides per 100,000 people in 2022 - well below the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average.

What the travel advisories say

The US State Department currently rates New Zealand at level 1 of 4 - "Exercise normal precautions" (updated 2026-04-28). The UK Foreign Office publishes travel advice for New Zealand 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 New Zealand

Terrorism in New Zealand · Crime · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · LGBT+ travellers · Extreme sports · Visiting remote areas · Road travel · Motor vehicle insurance · Earthquakes · Flooding · Volcanic eruptions

Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for New Zealand — country-level, not specific to Wellington. Read what each one says →

The numbers

Homicide rate: 1.5 /100knational rate, 2022
Conflict deaths: 0within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: no datacountry,
Human development: HDI 0.938country, 2023
Income: $53,600/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 149kurban centre · 2,122/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 9.6 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 86/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 86/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 81/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 1.6/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.90Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 6.9 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: 100%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 3.6 doctors /1k2.5 hospital beds per 1,000

Natural hazards in New Zealand

Earthquake: 6.0/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Tsunami: 5.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Flood: 3.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Cyclone: 1.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Drought: 1.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe New Zealand as a whole, not Wellington specifically.

Same-sex sexual activity is legal in New Zealand (as of 2025).

All country-level figures shared by every city in New Zealand; none of them affect the safety score.

How the score works

Low homicide40%65

Peace25%100

Equality25%no data

Development10%94

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 Wellington that gives 80.6/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Wellington compared with Auckland

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Wellington, red favours Auckland.
Measure	Wellington	Auckland	Difference
Safety score	80.6	80.6	±0.0
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	1.5 /100k	1.5 /100k	±0.0 /100k
Conflict deaths within 100 km	0	0	±0

Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in New Zealand, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Auckland →

Nearby cities

See Wellington on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Oceania → · Full travel briefings →