The 5 Safest Places to Live in Mexico, Ranked by Safety Score

Mérida outscored every US city on one 300-city safety ranking.

Its score of 92.74 beat Salt Lake City’s 83.25, the best US result on the list.

That ranking is the backbone of this list of the safest places to live in Mexico. Below are the 5 Mexican cities that score highest, in score order, each with who it suits and a first step.

After them come the popular cities that score far lower than their reputation, and a simple way to check any town yourself.

Here’s a fast way in:

• Retirees who can live with heat belong in #1.
• The ocean is the whole point of your move: #2.
• A job transfer to a big modern city points to #3 or #4.
• Old stone streets and a big foreign community, at a lower score, mean #5.

How These Places Were Ranked

The safest places in Mexico on this list are ranked by one number: each city’s score on CEOWORLD magazine’s 2025 ranking of the safest cities in the world. The list covers 300 cities, led by Abu Dhabi at 97.73, and eight Mexican cities appear on it.

The magazine says the ranking is based on safety indexes and crime statistics. It doesn’t publish a crime breakdown for each city, so treat the score as a useful comparison, not as official crime data.

A score also rates a whole city.

It can’t tell you about the street you’d live on, and it doesn’t replace the US State Department’s travel advisory, which rates each Mexican state.

Use the score to build your shortlist, then use the advisory and a visit to test it.

The 5 Safest Places to Live in Mexico

The 5 safest places to live in Mexico by 2025 safety score are Mérida, Puerto Vallarta, Querétaro, Monterrey and San Miguel de Allende. They’re the five highest-scoring Mexican cities on CEOWORLD magazine’s 300-city ranking.

1. Mérida

Mérida is the safest city in Mexico on this ranking, and it isn’t close. Its score puts it 30th of 300 cities worldwide.

Best for: retirees, remote workers and families who want a calm colonial city. Skip it if you can’t handle a hot, humid climate for much of the year.

Safety score: 92.74, 30th of 300.

First step: Read the Mérida safety guide and pick 2 neighborhoods to compare.

Here’s how that score stacks up:

Mérida’s 92.74 is about 9.5 points higher than Salt Lake City, the top US city on the same list. It’s also more than 10 points ahead of Puerto Vallarta, the next Mexican city.

That gap is huge: it’s the biggest lead any Mexican city has over the next one down.

The catch is the weather, not crime. Mérida is the capital of Yucatán, on the flat Yucatán Peninsula, and its heat is the main trade-off.

So if you’re serious, rent for a month in the hottest part of the year before you buy. Then price homes with the Mérida real estate numbers.

2. Puerto Vallarta

Puerto Vallarta is the safest beach city in Mexico on this ranking, scoring 82. That’s the best result of any Mexican city on the ocean.

Best for: beach lovers and retirees who want a big city on the ocean. Skip it if you want quiet streets during the winter high season.

Safety score: 82, 107th of 300.

First step: Search “Puerto Vallarta long term rental” and save 5 listings outside the main hotel strip.

Puerto Vallarta sits on the Pacific coast in Jalisco. Its score lands just 1.25 points below Salt Lake City’s.

Before you sign a lease, run through this list:

• Walk the block at 9 p.m., not just at noon.
• Ask a neighbor how long they’ve lived there.
• Check whether the building has a night guard.
• Read the State Department’s entry for Jalisco.

A beach city that scores well still has blocks you’d skip, so test the exact street.

That’s why prices vary so much from one area to the next, as the Puerto Vallarta market shows.

3. Querétaro

Querétaro scores 80.77 on the 2025 ranking, the highest of any city in central Mexico on the list. It’s the pick for people who want a big, modern city that still feels orderly.

Best for: professionals, families with school-age kids and anyone who wants mild weather all year. Skip it if you want a beach within a short drive.

Safety score: 80.77, 118th of 300.

First step: Look up a 30-day furnished rental in Querétaro for the month you’d move.

In fact, Querétaro scores higher than San Diego, which rates 77.59 on the same list.

Querétaro is the safest choice on this list if you want mild weather and a big city.

Here’s how I’d test it in one month:

1. Week 1: Live near the historic center and learn the bus and taxi routes.
2. Week 2: Visit 3 residential areas at night and on a weekday morning.
3. Week 3: Do a real week of errands: groceries, a pharmacy and a doctor’s visit.
4. Week 4: Rent in the area you liked best and see if the commute still works.

In other words, give Querétaro a month of normal life, not a weekend of sightseeing.

4. Monterrey

Monterrey scores 70.37 on the 2025 ranking, putting it 195th of 300 cities. It’s the only city in northern Mexico that the list scores.

Best for: people moving for a corporate or factory job, and families who want big malls and suburbs. Skip it if you want a small-town pace.

Safety score: 70.37, 195th of 300.

First step: Ask your employer which neighborhoods its foreign staff live in.

Monterrey is a big industrial city in Nuevo León, a few hours’ drive from Texas. That makes it practical for anyone whose work crosses the border.

Here’s what to send HR:

“I’m relocating for the role. Which neighborhoods do your international employees usually choose, and does the company help with housing or security?”

The risk is choosing on price alone. A cheaper area across town can add a long commute and a different safety picture, so compare the city’s rich neighborhoods first.

5. San Miguel de Allende

San Miguel de Allende scores 66.3 on the 2025 ranking, 217th of 300, and it’s the smallest town in Mexico that makes the list. That’s just above Miami, which scores 65.68.

Best for: retirees and artists who want a walkable historic town with a large foreign community. Skip it if a top-3 safety score is your main filter.

Safety score: 66.3, 217th of 300.

First step: Read the pros and cons of San Miguel before you book a visit.

The town sits in the state of Guanajuato, and its center is protected for a reason. UNESCO inscribed San Miguel de Allende as a World Heritage site in 2008, describing a fortified town first set up in the 16th century.

So what does a 66.3 mean for you?

It means San Miguel scores about 26 points below Mérida, so you’re trading some safety margin for its setting. If safety is your first filter, put Mérida and Querétaro ahead of it, and choose San Miguel for its streets and community.

Safety Scores for Mexican Cities Compared

Eight Mexican cities appear on CEOWORLD magazine’s 2025 ranking, and their scores run from 92.74 for Mérida down to 55.95 for Guadalajara. Here’s the full set, in score order:

Only Mérida beats Salt Lake City’s 83.25, the best US score, while Puerto Vallarta and Querétaro land just below it. Below Monterrey, the scores drop fast.

Popular Cities That Score Lower

Guadalajara, Puebla and Cancún are the popular Mexican cities that score lowest on CEOWORLD magazine’s 2025 ranking, at 55.95, 57.57 and 59.52. Guadalajara ranks 282nd of 300, near the bottom of the whole list.

That surprises a lot of people.

Guadalajara is Mexico’s second-largest city, and many guides call it safe without giving a number. Cancún, in Quintana Roo, is the gateway to the Riviera Maya, the Caribbean beach coast that runs south through Playa del Carmen and Tulum.

A low score doesn’t mean you can’t live there.

It means the city-wide picture is mixed, so the neighborhood you pick matters more. If you’re still drawn to living in Guadalajara, shortlist areas with long-term foreign residents and visit them at night.

The same goes for the Riviera Maya as a whole. Price a month with the cost of living in Cancún, then compare it with other Riviera Maya towns before you sign.

Places the Ranking Doesn’t Score

Mexico City, La Paz, Campeche, Lake Chapala and Oaxaca are popular places that CEOWORLD magazine’s 2025 ranking doesn’t score. For these, you’ll need the state advisory, local news and your own visit.

Mexico City

Mexico City isn’t scored on the ranking at all, so its safety comes down to the neighborhood you choose. Neighborhoods such as Coyoacán, Roma, Condesa and Polanco each need their own check, because one city-wide number would hide the differences between them.

So start with the city’s best neighborhoods, then read the full guide on living safely in Mexico City.

Other Unscored Favorites

Several other places show up on expat safety lists without a score:

• La Paz: The capital of Baja California Sur, on the Sea of Cortez north of Los Cabos.
• Campeche: A small walled city on the Gulf of Mexico, next to Yucatán.
• Lake Chapala and Ajijic: Lakeside towns near Guadalajara, popular with retirees for their mild climate.
• Oaxaca City: A food and culture capital in the southern highlands.
• Mazatlán: A Pacific port city; read the Mazatlán safety guide before you go.
• Rosarito: A beach town near the border; here’s how safe Rosarito is.

No score doesn’t mean unsafe, it means you do the checking.

Safest Places to Live in Mexico Near the Beach

Puerto Vallarta is the safest place to live in Mexico near the beach on CEOWORLD magazine’s 2025 ranking, scoring 82. Cancún, the other scored beach city, rates 59.52.

That’s a 22-point gap between two beach cities many people treat as equal.

La Paz is the beach option most often named next, but it has no score, so check Baja California Sur’s advisory first. Mérida is another route: you live inland in the safest city and drive to the Gulf coast for the beach on weekends.

If the ocean is a must, compare more beach towns to live in by climate and price before you choose.

Safest Places for Families and Retirees

Mérida and Querétaro are the safest places to live in Mexico for families and retirees, with scores of 92.74 and 80.77 on CEOWORLD magazine’s 2025 ranking. The ranking doesn’t score family or retiree safety separately, so these are the top city-wide scores.

For families, Querétaro’s mild climate and big-city services tip the balance. For retirees, Mérida’s top score usually wins, as long as you can live with the heat.

Note: A city’s score says nothing about the hospital you’d use or the school run, so visit both on a weekday.

Retirees can compare more towns in the best places to retire guide.

Is Mexico a Safe Place for Americans to Live?

Mexico can be a safe place for Americans to live when you choose a well-scored city and neighborhood, because safety varies widely from one Mexican city to the next. Americas Quarterly reports that, officially, Mexico has around 1.5 million immigrants in a country of 130 million.

The real number of Americans may be higher.

The same report notes that Mexico’s official figures count fewer US citizens living there than the US State Department does. So treat official counts as a floor, not the full picture.

For the country-wide picture, read whether Mexico is safe to live in, and check the safest places right now for the latest changes.

How to Check a City’s Safety Before You Move

The best way to check a city’s safety in Mexico is to combine its score, the US State Department’s advisory for its state and a visit at night. Each one catches something the others miss.

Here’s the order I’d follow:

1. Check the score. Find the city in the table above, or note that it isn’t scored.
2. Read the state advisory. Open the State Department’s Mexico advisory and read the entry for that state.
3. Enroll in STEP. Sign up for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, so the embassy can send you alerts while you’re there.
4. Visit at night. Walk your shortlisted streets after dark and on a weekday.
5. Ask locals. Talk to 2 neighbors and one shop owner before you sign.

Here’s what to ask: “How long have you lived here, and is there anything about this street you’d want to know before moving in?”

Then fold that into your full plan for moving to Mexico from the US.

The Safest Place to Buy a House in Mexico

The safest place to buy a house in Mexico is a well-scored city like Mérida (92.74) or Querétaro (80.77 on CEOWORLD magazine’s 2025 ranking), bought with a clean title and a notary-led closing. Crime is only half of a safe purchase, and the paperwork is the other half.

So pick the city with the score, then protect the deal.

Start with the main risks of buying real estate, from title problems to unclear land status. If the home is near a coast, learn how the bank trust works before you send a deposit.

For overall fit beyond safety, compare these cities with the best places to live in Mexico.