Zahle scores 48 out of 100 (moderate safety) on World Safety Map, ranked 5369 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 Zahle safe?

Lebanon · Asia · data updated 2026-09-04

47.7Moderate · rank 5369 / 6,168
safer than 13% of ranked cities

Zahle is a city in Lebanon, home to about 116k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,369 of 6,168, with a safety score of 47.7 out of 100, which lands it in the middle band of the ranking.

US 4/4 Do not travel UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country

Emergency Ambulance 140 · Fire 175 · Police 112

Armed conflict nearbyUCDP recorded 4,959 deaths from organized violence within 100 km in 2022-2024 (1,382 events). Crime figures do not capture war risk.
US State Department: Do not travelOfficial travel advisory level 4 of 4 for Lebanon, updated 2026-05-05.
UK FCDO advises against all travel to parts of this country17 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
Same-sex activity criminalizedLaw on the books in Lebanon as of 2025 (OWID legal-status series) - enforcement varies, but LGBTQ+ travelers face legal risk.

Deadliest recorded locations nearby

Ain al-Delb73 deaths · 1 event
Al-Jamous building in the southern suburb of Beirut51 deaths · 1 event
Beirut38 deaths · 8 events

UCDP-recorded organized-violence deaths within 100 km of Zahle, 2022-2024, at the locations the source itself names. Conflict deaths, not street crime.

Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country

Areas in Beirut and Mount Lebanon Governorate
Areas in the South and Nabatiyeh Governorates
Areas in the Beqaa Governorate
Areas in the Baalbek-Hermel Governorate
Areas in the North Governorate
Areas in the Akkar Governorate
Palestinian refugee camps
Tariq el Jdideh and the area east of Tariq el Jdideh, south of Jalloul Street, west of Hourch and the war cemetery (not including the war cemetery), and south of the Soulieman Bastani
Ghobeiry and the area north of Ghobeiry but south of Yarmouk street, the war cemetery and Horsh park (not including Horsh park and the cemetery and Yarmouk street)
Chiyah (south and west of the Rizkallah Semaan road)
Haret Hraik
Burj Al Barajneh
Mraije
Laylaki
Jnah, south of El Imam Mousa El Sader street
The Golf Club of Lebanon
all other areas west of the Camil Chamoun Boulevard (south of Forn el Chebbak) that becomes the Old Saida Road through Hadath to Beirut airport

Named in the official UK travel advice for Lebanon (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Zahle.

How safe is Zahle really?

No published homicide figure exists for Zahle itself, so the national rate stands in: Lebanon recorded 2.6 homicides per 100,000 people in 2024 - close to the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. Lebanon's income inequality is middling (Gini 35.5) - in this dataset inequality predicts city violence better than any other structural factor, so this neither raises nor lowers the picture much.

Crime statistics are not the main story here: the Uppsala Conflict Data Program recorded 4,959 deaths from organized violence - war, armed conflict, militia or cartel fighting - within 100 km of Zahle across 1,382 events in 2022-2024. That is active-conflict territory, and ordinary crime figures say nothing about it. The deadliest recorded locations in that radius were Ain al-Delb (73 deaths), Al-Jamous building in the southern suburb of Beirut (51 deaths), Beirut (38 deaths).

What the travel advisories say

The US State Department currently rates Lebanon at level 4 of 4 - "Do not travel" (updated 2026-05-05). The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to parts of this country, naming 17 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 Lebanon

Terrorism in Lebanon · Terrorist kidnap · Security advice for British nationals · Currency · Power cuts · Protecting your belongings · Sexual assault · Drug smuggling and violent crime · Using cameras and drones in secure areas · Ramadan · Diversity · Dress code · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · LGBT+ travellers · +8 more

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

The numbers

Homicide rate: 2.6 /100knational rate, 2024
Conflict deaths: 4,959within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
Income inequality: Gini 35.5country, 2022
Human development: HDI 0.752country, 2023
Income: $11,790/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
Population: 116kurban centre · 3,740/km²

Country context for travelers

Road deaths: 16.4 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
Political stability: 42/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
Rule of law: 38/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
Corruption perceptions: 23/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
Natural-hazard risk: 6.4/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Women, Peace & Security: 0.57Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
Air quality: 26.7 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
Safely managed drinking water: 48%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
Healthcare capacity: 2.7 doctors /1k2.7 hospital beds per 1,000

Natural hazards in Lebanon

Earthquake: 8.2/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Tsunami: 3.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Drought: 2.9/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier

Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Lebanon as a whole, not Zahle specifically.

Same-sex sexual activity is criminalized in Lebanon (as of 2025). This describes the law on the books, not necessarily enforcement practice.

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

How the score works

Low homicide40%55

Peace25%8

Equality25%66

Development10%75

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 Zahle that gives 47.7/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →

Zahle compared with Beirut

The nearest ranked city of comparable size. Green favours Zahle, red favours Beirut.
Measure	Zahle	Beirut	Difference
Safety score	47.7	47.8	−0.1 — better for Beirut
Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate	2.6 /100k	2.6 /100k	±0.0 /100k
Conflict deaths within 100 km	4,959	4,782	+177 — better for Beirut

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

Nearby cities

See Zahle on the interactive map → · Safest cities in Asia → · Full travel briefings →