Where Is Safer And Where Is More Dangerous To Go In Mexico?
A 2026 risk guide to Mexican states and cities
Para leer en español click aqui.
A few years back, I met a French former special-forces trooper who was doing security for diplomats. We were discussing going to high-risk cities. “You don’t have dangerous places,” he told me. “You have dangerous situations.”
He had a point. When the daring (or reckless) go to feared hot-spots, most come out okay most the time. Meanwhile, in a quaint English town, you still have the risk of a drunken lout shoving a glass in your face. It’s the situation that finally gets you rather than your location on the map.
Yet there is an odds game. The chances are higher of getting an AK pointed at you in a gang-controlled quarter of Port-au-Prince than in the city gardens of Singapore.
It also varies according to who you are. In some places, the local community suffers terrible violence but visitors are rarely harmed. In others, it’s the opposite.
When people ask me, then, if it’s safe to go to a certain city that I’ve reported on I tend a give a nuanced answer. And this starts with saying it depends how much risk they want to take.
Readers have sent messages inquiring about security in Mexico as they plan to visit during the World Cup this summer, adding to many mails over the years asking about safety in certain areas. It’s tricky info for people to assess. Mexico genuinely suffers from severe cartel violence yet this is focused in specific areas so levels of murder and security vary massively across the 32 states, and within them.
In response then, I’ve put together this guide which goes state by state and focuses on certain cities, and in some cases even neighborhoods, awarding risk ratings, along with the murder levels and an overview of the cartel situation. You can see the massive difference of going to Mexico City (relatively safe) to the mountains of Sinaloa (you may well run into trouble), and the travel plans are up to you.
Sorry, this is behind the paywall, but then it’s only the price of a cuppa coffee and security companies charge big bucks for less informed intel. You also get the complete archive including exclusive interviews with top players and maps of cartel territory. And now is a great time to subscribe with so much going on, and I will be following the tumultuous events with reports you can trust.