Most and least peaceful places in Mexico

The most and least peaceful places in Mexico have been updated for 2022. Yucatán was named the most peaceful state, while Baja California the least.

In past years, Mexico has jostled with Thailand and Russia for a place on the list of the world’s most visited countries. Currently, it sits comfortably mid-list with over 45 million tourist arrivals in 2019 – the latest reliable data available.

Particularly, for Americans, Mexico – with its famous beach resorts such as Cancún and Acapulco – is the preferred vacation destination. According to the US Department of Commerce, Mexico is by far the most popular destination for US travellers. In 2019, 39.3 million American residents visited the country.

Likewise, it is also the most popular destination for American expats with almost 900,000 American-born residents living in Mexico. Mexico City alone has over 400,000 Americans living there, making it the single urban environment outside the US with the largest number of American-born residents.

Mexico is also extremely popular with digital nomads and was recently ranked the 19th-best country for remote workers. The country currently offers a remote work visa scheme to anyone who can work remotely for a location-independent business or owns a non-Mexican company. The visa lasts for 12 months, with an option to extend for a further three years.

An appealing climate, low cost of living and exceptional and affordable medical care have made Mexico a tempting destination for global tourists, expats and digital nomads alike. As such, it looks as if Mexico will only grow in popularity.

However, when it comes to safety and security, Mexico regularly suffers from bad press with headlines often focusing on the worst of the country’s dangerous and violent crimes which are nearly always related to organized criminal activities.

It would also be remiss to gloss over the troubles the country faces. According to the Mexico Peace Index, produced by the Vision of Humanity for the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), Mexico’s peacefulness deteriorated by 17.1% over the last seven years.

The deterioration was been driven by substantial increases in criminal activity, with the rate of organised crime rising by 48.1% since 2015, driving high levels of homicides in Mexico. The national homicide rate has nearly doubled from 15.1 deaths per 100,000 people in 2015 to 26.6 in 2021.

That said, in the past two years, peacefulness in the country has improved by 3.6% with 2021 seeing another increase, albeit smaller at just 0.2%. Overall, 23 of the 32 states improved in peacefulness, while nine states deteriorated over the last 12 months. While this is encouraging, the country clearly has a long way to go.

The Vision of Humanity also produces the Global Peace Index, which ranks the most peaceful countries in the world, as well as indices for the USA, UK and a Global Terrorism Index.

most and least peaceful places in Mexico

Now in its eighth year, the Mexico Peace Index ranks all 32 Mexican states from most peaceful to least peaceful. Yucatán was named the most peaceful state, while Baja California the least. All data used to calculate the MPI comes from government organisations in Mexico.

1. Yucatán, 1.254
2. Tlaxcala, 1.517
3. Chiapas, 1.613
4. Campeche, 1.622
5. Hidalgo, 1.817
6. Nayarit, 1.869
7. Coahuila, 1.967
8. Veracruz, 2.028
9. Puebla, 2.042
10. Durango, 2.051

11. Tamaulipas, 2.064
12. Tabasco, 2.113
13. Aguascalientes, 2.15
14. Oaxaca, 2.29
15. Sinaloa, 2.294
16. Querétaro, 2.348
17. Mexico City, 2.426
18. Baja California Sur, 2.478
19. Jalisco, 2.496
20. San Luis Potosí, 2.73

21. Nuevo León, 2.802
22. Guerrero, 2.862
23. Mexico State, 2.904
24. Quintana Roo, 3.052
25. Michoacán, 3.19
26. Morelos, 3.299
27. Chihuahua, 3.517
28. Sonora, 3.524
29. Guanajuato, 3.567
30. Colima, 3.989
31. Zacatecas, 4.227
32. Baja California, 4.307