Safest cities in South America
376 ranked cities across 12 countries · data updated 2026-09-04
Every city in South America with 100,000 or more residents, scored on the same fixed mix of published data used everywhere on this site: homicide rate, deaths from organized violence nearby, income inequality and human development. Scores are comparable worldwide, so a rank here is a rank among all 6,168 cities, not just this continent.
Safest cities in South America
- CuscoPeru · 74.8 · #2827 worldwide
- ChiclayoPeru · 72.6 · #3105 worldwide
- ResistenciaArgentina · 72.6 · #3108 worldwide
- CorrientesArgentina · 72.6 · #3109 worldwide
- SucreBolivia · 72.1 · #3159 worldwide
- TarijaBolivia · 72.1 · #3160 worldwide
- SaltaArgentina · 70.4 · #3351 worldwide
- Buenos AiresArgentina · 68.5 · #3586 worldwide
- FormosaArgentina · 68.5 · #3587 worldwide
- HuancayoPeru · 68.3 · #3596 worldwide
Lowest-scoring cities in South America
- Feira de SantanaBrazil · 24.3 · #6077 worldwide
- GuayaquilEcuador · 27.0 · #6070 worldwide
- JamundíColombia · 27.0 · #6069 worldwide
- CaliColombia · 27.3 · #6067 worldwide
- MilagroEcuador · 27.3 · #6066 worldwide
- Simões FilhoBrazil · 27.4 · #6062 worldwide
- SalvadorBrazil · 27.4 · #6061 worldwide
- PalmiraColombia · 27.4 · #6060 worldwide
- CamaçariBrazil · 27.4 · #6059 worldwide
- ManausBrazil · 27.6 · #6057 worldwide
A low score reflects the published figures behind it — usually a high homicide rate, conflict deaths recorded nearby, or both. Each city page shows which.
Countries in South America, by average city score
- Boliviaavg 68 · 9 cities · best Sucre
- Argentinaavg 65 · 34 cities · best Resistencia
- Surinameavg 65 · 1 city · best Paramaribo
- Peruavg 62 · 23 cities · best Cusco
- Chileavg 62 · 22 cities · best Puerto Montt
- Paraguayavg 58 · 6 cities · best Encarnacion
- Uruguayavg 57 · 3 cities · best Maldonado
- Guyanaavg 51 · 2 cities · best Georgetown
- Venezuelaavg 48 · 41 cities · best Cabimas
- Brazilavg 47 · 170 cities · best Araraquara
- Ecuadoravg 39 · 17 cities · best City of Loja
- Colombiaavg 36 · 48 cities · best Manizales
Averages are unweighted means of the ranked cities in each country, so a country with one large city and a country with fifty are treated alike.