City Travel Stats

Edinburgh

United Kingdom · Europe

89Safety indexLower concern
2US flagU.S. State DeptLevel 2 · Increased caution
2CA flagGlobal Affairs CanadaLevel 2 · Increased caution
2AU flagSmartraveller (AU)Level 2 · Increased caution
5/5metric categories covered
Open comparison
55.95°, -3.19°
Regional locator · ring ≈ the figure's geographic unit

The safety picture

A plain-language read of the sourced figures below

Edinburgh scores 89 out of 100 in our index, safer than about 62% of the cities we rank.

Both underlying rates are drawn from a wider municipal area than the city itself, were derived by us from counts and populations, and are police-recorded, so read them as approximate floors. Homicide comes to 0.6 per 100,000 and robbery to 53.1 per 100,000. The governments we track agree: the US, Canada, and Australia all set the United Kingdom at their second advisory level, increased caution. A national survey found 78% of residents feel safe walking alone at night, a country-wide figure rather than one specific to Edinburgh, and it sits comfortably with the low recorded crime.

Safety dimensions

Larger area = more concern
Violent crimeRobbery & theftTravel advisory
Violent crime1
Robbery & theft10
Travel advisory33
The radar shows the three sourced, comparable risk measures (homicide, robbery, the strictest travel-advisory level). Tourist petty-crime signals are a different kind of measure — how often advisories mention them — so they are shown as rows under Tourist-specific incidents, not as radar axes.

Homicide / general violence

Intentional homicides (per 100,000)
0.6/100k
Police-recorded crime depends on victim reporting and counts crimes known to the police, not total incidence. Read this as recorded crime, not total crime.
Figure is for City of Edinburgh (municipality), wider than Edinburgh itself.
Rate computed by project-atlas: 3 (count, 2025) ÷ 523250 population (National Records of Scotland — Mid-2023 population estimates (council area), 2023) × 100k.

Primary source: Scottish Government — Recorded Crime in Scotland, by local authority (Table 1)

Where this sits on the scaleLow
01·3·8·20·40 /100k
Among tracked citiessafer than 83% of tracked cities
0.6/100k
0/100k safest101.2/100k

Robbery (police-recorded)

Robbery (per 100,000)
53.1/100k
Police-recorded crime depends on victim reporting and counts crimes known to the police, not total incidence. Read this as recorded crime, not total crime.
Figure is for City of Edinburgh (municipality), wider than Edinburgh itself.
Rate computed by project-atlas: 278 (count, 2025) ÷ 523250 population (National Records of Scotland — Mid-2023 population estimates (council area), 2023) × 100k.

Primary source: Scottish Government — Recorded Crime in Scotland, by local authority (Table 1)

Where this sits on the scaleGuarded
040·120·250·400·600 /100k
Among tracked citiessafer than 63% of tracked cities
53.1/100k
0.4/100k safest3097.8/100k

Travel advisories

U.S. State Department
2US flagU.S. State DeptLevel 2 · Increased caution

Primary source: U.S. Department of State — United Kingdom Travel Advisory

Global Affairs Canada
2CA flagGlobal Affairs CanadaLevel 2 · Increased caution

Primary source: Global Affairs Canada — United Kingdom Travel Advice and Advisories

UK FCDO

No advisory on record.

Smartraveller (Australia)
2AU flagSmartraveller (AU)Level 2 · Increased caution

Primary source: Australian Government (DFAT Smartraveller) — United Kingdom travel advice

Perceived safety

How safe people say they feel, from official population surveys — a separate signal, not part of the Safety Index.
Feel safe walking alone at night
National survey
78%feel safe
78% of people surveyed · United Kingdom · 2024
Survey figure is for United Kingdom (country), wider than Edinburgh itself.

Primary source: UN SDG 16.1.4 — feel safe walking alone at night (UNODC)

Tourist-specific incidents

How often government travel advisories mention each — a source-consensus signal, not a risk rate.
Pickpocketing & petty theft in travel advisories
2 of 2 advisories mention this
project-atlas count: 2 of 2 reviewed government advisories mention this. A source-consensus signal, not a measured risk rate.
Based on only 2 reviewed advisories — a thin sample; treat as indicative.

Primary source: Global Affairs Canada — United Kingdom travel advice (Safety and security)

Scams & fraud in travel advisories
2 of 2 advisories mention this
project-atlas count: 2 of 2 reviewed government advisories mention this. A source-consensus signal, not a measured risk rate.
Based on only 2 reviewed advisories — a thin sample; treat as indicative.

Primary source: Global Affairs Canada — United Kingdom travel advice (Safety and security)