The 5 Safest Cities In The World

We care about staying safe during our travels, especially when we take our epic adventures solo. There's no reason for travel disasters when you can prevent them.

That's why we have special interest in visiting the world's safest cities, as recently ranked in The Economist's Safe Cities Index. The Economist Intelligence Unit looked at 50 cities, selected for factors including their size and availability of data. The cities were ranked on more than 40 metrics that spanned four main categories: digital security, health security, infrastructure safety and personal safety.

Wealthy Asian cities, like Tokyo and Singapore. The other top spots went to cities in Europe, Australia, Canada and the U.S. (go NYC!).

And it doesn't hurt that while they're safe, these cities are also pretty incredible to visit. The Economist's 5 safest cities in the world are:

1. Tokyo, Japan

2. Singapore

3. Osaka, Japan

4. Stockholm, Sweden

5. Amsterdam, the Netherlands

For the record, the safest city in America that the index considered was New York, which came in 10th place. San Francisco followed in 12th place, Chicago ranked 16th, Los Angeles was 17th, and Washington, D.C. was 19th. (No other U.S. cities were included in the rankings.)

Oh and if you're curious, the cities that came in at the bottom of the list were:

46. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

47. Johannesburg, South Africa

48. Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam

49. Tehran, Iran

50. Jakarta, Indonesia

These cities ranked low in all four of the report's categories of safety: Ho Chi Minh City, for example, finished last in "infrastructure safety" (the quality of roads, number of disaster-related deaths, etc.), and Tehran was second to last in "health security" (the cities' number of hospital beds and average life expectancies).

The report notes that wealth and economic development is closely linked to city safety but certainly does not guarantee it. Researchers also wrote that, "Being statistically safe is not the same as feeling safe."

While there are many factors indeed that make a city "safe" or "unsafe," it never hurts to consider the facts before a trip -- and we certainly plan to do so. Cheers to safe travels, everyone!