Published On: November 26th, 2023Categories: Safety

The Most Dangerous Cities on Earth

The Most Dangerous Cities on Earth

The following most dangerous cities on Earth had the highest homicide rates in 2022, not including cities at war.

It also only includes cities with populations over 300,000. Otherwise, our home city of Birmingham, Alabama would make the list at number eight with 77.7 homicides per 100,000 people.

In fact the city we’re moving to in Mexico (Mérida) has 2.6% as many murders as where we live in the U.S, with an annual murder rate of 2 per 100,000 people.

1. Colima, Mexico

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181.94 murders per 100,000 residents

2. Zamora, Mexico

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177.73 murders per 100,000 residents

3. Ciudad Obregón, Mexico

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138.23 murders per 100,000 residents

4. Zacatecas, Mexico

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134.62 murders per 100,000 residents

5. Tijuana, Mexico

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105.12 murders per 100,000 residents

6. Celaya, Mexico

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99.64 murders per 100,000 residents

7. Uruapan, Mexico

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78.26 murders per 100,000 residents

8. New Orleans, United States

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70.56 murders per 100,000 residents

9. Ciudad Juárez, Mexico

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67.69 murders per 100,000 residents

10. Acapulco, Mexico

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65.55 murders per 100,000 residents

11. Mossoró, Brazil

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63.21 murders per 100,000 residents

12. Cape Town, South Africa

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63.00 murders per 100,000 residents

13. Irapuato, Mexico

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61.60 murders per 100,000 residents

14. Cuernavaca, Mexico

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60.20 murders per 100,000 residents

15. Durban, South Africa

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59.37 murders per 100,000 residents

16. Kingston, Jamaica

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58.46 murders per 100,000 residents

17. Baltimore, United States

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57.76 murders per 100,000 residents

18. Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth), South Africa

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56.99 murders per 100,000 residents

19. Salvador, Brazil

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56.68 murders per 100,000 residents

20. Port-au-Prince, Haiti

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54.75 murders per 100,000 residents

21. Manaus, Brazil

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50.66 murders per 100,000 residents

22. Feira de Santana, Brazil

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50.11 murders per 100,000 residents

23. Detroit, United States

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48.86 murders per 100,000 residents

24. Guayaquil, Ecuador

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47.77 murders per 100,000 residents

25. Memphis, United States

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47.75 murders per 100,000 residents

26. Vitória da Conquista, Brazil

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47.48 murders per 100,000 residents

27. Cleveland, United States

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45.65 murders per 100,000 residents

28. Natal, Brazil

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45.06 murders per 100,000 residents

29. Cancún, Mexico

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44.09 murders per 100,000 residents

30. Chihuahua, Mexico

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43.84 murders per 100,000 residents

31. Fortaleza, Brazil

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42.63 murders per 100,000 residents

32. Cali, Colombia

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42.09 murders per 100,000 residents

33. Morelia, Mexico

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42.05 murders per 100,000 residents

34. Johannesburg, South Africa

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41.43 murders per 100,000 residents

35. Recife, Brazil

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39.89 murders per 100,000 residents

36. Maceió, Brazil

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39.45 murders per 100,000 residents

37. Santa Marta, Colombia

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39.28 murders per 100,000 residents

38. León, Mexico

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37.64 murders per 100,000 residents

39. Milwaukee, United States

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37.59 murders per 100,000 residents

40. Teresina, Brazil

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37.30 murders per 100,000 residents

41. San Juan, Puerto Rico

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37.06 murders per 100,000 residents

42. San Pedro Sula, Honduras

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36.03 murders per 100,000 residents

43. Buenaventura, Colombia

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35.16 murders per 100,000 residents

44. Ensenada, Mexico

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34.93 murders per 100,000 residents

45. Distrito Central, Honduras

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32.81 murders per 100,000 residents

46. Philadelphia, United States

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32.74 murders per 100,000 residents

47. Cartagena, Colombia

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31.29 murders per 100,000 residents

48. Palmira, Colombia

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30.66 murders per 100,000 residents

49. Cúcuta, Colombia

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29.47 murders per 100,000 residents

50. San Luis Potosí, Mexico

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29.06 murders per 100,000 residents

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Jen Barnett Expatsi
Co-founder at Expatsi | Website | + posts

Jen is the co-founder of Expatsi, a company that helps Americans move abroad. She created the Expatsi Test, an assessment that recommends countries for aspiring emigrants based on lifestyle data. Jen has an MBA from Emory University with concentrations in marketing and innovation. She's written for BusinessWeek, Health, Cooking Light, and Southern Living. Prior to Expatsi, she created Freshfully and Bottle & Bone—two businesses in the local food space—and spoke at TEDx on being brave. She's moving to Mexico in 2024, along with her husband and co-founder Brett, pitbull mix Squiggy, and three rotten cats. How can she help you move abroad?

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Jen Barnett Expatsi
Co-founder at Expatsi | Website | + posts

Jen is the co-founder of Expatsi, a company that helps Americans move abroad. She created the Expatsi Test, an assessment that recommends countries for aspiring emigrants based on lifestyle data. Jen has an MBA from Emory University with concentrations in marketing and innovation. She's written for BusinessWeek, Health, Cooking Light, and Southern Living. Prior to Expatsi, she created Freshfully and Bottle & Bone—two businesses in the local food space—and spoke at TEDx on being brave. She's moving to Mexico in 2024, along with her husband and co-founder Brett, pitbull mix Squiggy, and three rotten cats. How can she help you move abroad?