San José

Costa Rica · Latin America & Caribbean

23Safety indexHigher concern

U.S. State DeptLevel 2 · Increased caution

Global Affairs CanadaLevel 2 · Increased caution

UK FCDOLevel 1 · Normal precautions

Smartraveller (AU)Level 2 · Increased caution

4/5metric categories covered

Open comparison

9.93°, -84.09°

Regional locator · ring ≈ the figure's geographic unit

The safety picture

A plain-language read of the sourced figures below

San José is among the lowest-scoring cities in our index, at 23 out of 100, with only about 3% of the cities we score ranking below it.

Its homicide rate is 27 per 100,000, roughly 17 times the median for the cities we track, reported for the municipality and calculated by us from a count and a population. Recorded robbery is very high at 1,080 per 100,000, and as police data it counts only reported cases, so the real level is higher still. The governments we track split on framing: the US, Canada, and Australia each set Costa Rica at their second level, increased caution, while the UK stays at its lowest. Every advisory that covers the country flags pickpocketing and scams for visitors. We hold no resident-perception survey for the city.

Safety dimensions

Larger area = more concern

Violent crime54

Robbery & theft100

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)

27/100k

Figure is for Cantón Central de San José (municipality), wider than San José itself.

Rate computed by project-atlas: 95 (count, 2024) ÷ 352325 population (INEC — Estimaciones y Proyecciones de Población por cantón (Costa Rica), 2024) × 100k.

Primary source: OIJ — Organismo de Investigación Judicial (Poder Judicial, Costa Rica), Estadísticas Policiales

Where this sits on the scaleSevere

01·3·8·20·40 /100k

Among tracked citiessafer than 7% of tracked cities

27/100k

0/100k safest101.2/100k

Robbery (police-recorded)

Robbery (per 100,000)

1080/100k

Police-recorded asaltos (robberies) undercount true incidence — Costa Rica has substantial unreported crime (cifra negra). Read this as recorded robbery, not total robbery.

Figure is for Cantón Central de San José (municipality), wider than San José itself.

Rate computed by project-atlas: 3805 (count, 2024) ÷ 352325 population (INEC — Estimaciones y Proyecciones de Población por cantón (Costa Rica), 2024) × 100k.

Primary source: OIJ — Organismo de Investigación Judicial (Poder Judicial, Costa Rica), Estadísticas Policiales

Where this sits on the scaleExtreme

040·120·250·400·600 /100k

Among tracked citiessafer than 2% of tracked cities

1080/100k

0.4/100k safest3097.8/100k

Travel advisories

U.S. State Department

U.S. State DeptLevel 2 · Increased caution

Primary source: U.S. Department of State — Costa Rica Travel Advisory

Global Affairs Canada

Global Affairs CanadaLevel 2 · Increased caution

Primary source: Global Affairs Canada — Costa Rica Travel Advice and Advisories

UK FCDO

UK FCDOLevel 1 · Normal precautions

Primary source: UK FCDO — Costa Rica travel advice

Smartraveller (Australia)

Smartraveller (AU)Level 2 · Increased caution

Primary source: Australian Government (DFAT Smartraveller) — Costa Rica travel advice

Tourist-specific incidents

How often government travel advisories mention each — a source-consensus signal, not a risk rate.

Pickpocketing & petty theft in travel advisories

3 of 3 advisories mention this

project-atlas count: 3 of 3 reviewed government advisories mention this. A source-consensus signal, not a measured risk rate.

Primary source: Global Affairs Canada — Costa Rica travel advice (Safety and security)

Scams & fraud in travel advisories

2 of 3 advisories mention this

project-atlas count: 2 of 3 reviewed government advisories mention this. A source-consensus signal, not a measured risk rate.

Primary source: Global Affairs Canada — Costa Rica travel advice (Safety and security)