How safe is Panama?
Panama lands at the lower end of the Americas range — comparable to Costa Rica on crime statistics, while three of four diplomatic advisories rate it routine travel. Concentrated risk; not a generalised one.
Where buyers go
The five Panama markets North-American buyers shop most, each paired with a US city at a comparable homicide rate so the number means something.
Where buyers buy — Punta Pacifica, Costa del Este, El Cangrejo — runs in the low single digits. San Miguelito, where they don’t, is many times higher.
A single “Panama City” letter averages a safe-suburb rate and a high-crime-district rate into a number that describes neither. The spread is the honest answer.
Mountain expat hub. Property crime is the realistic concern, not violence.
Mountain town with a similar expat / retiree mix.
Gated coastal communities; weekend traffic from Panama City.
Coastal weekend market; gated-community pattern.
Island archipelago; advisory weight pulls the grade more than crime stats.
Caribbean island, US flag; advisory-flagged despite tourism core.
The strongest grade among the five — small town, low-density.
Small Atlantic town; tourism-economy parallel.
3 of 5 regions earn a C or higher — Pedasí leads at 75.3; Panama City drags the country average at 65.9.
Panama lands at the lower end of the Americas range — comparable to Costa Rica on crime statistics, while three of four diplomatic advisories rate it routine travel. Concentrated risk; not a generalised one.
Each bar = number of regions at that grade. Where you live in Panama matters more than the country average.
11.3 intentional homicides per 100,000 people (2022).
What a D+ means here
The UNODC homicide rate (11.3 per 100,000) reads as a D+, while three of four advisories sit at L1. The composite reflects the gap honestly rather than averaging it away. Most homicide is concentrated in specific neighbourhoods of Panama City and Colón; this is not a generalised national risk.
The Safety Score does not average disagreement away. Where the homicide data and the advisories pull in different directions, the composite holds the tension and the editor’s note explains it — because the honest answer for Panama is that the neighbourhood you buy in matters more than the national grade.
Markets that score within range of Panama on the composite.
Fixed reference points so the grade is legible to a North-American reader.
One market read, one process explainer, one number to know.
Free, no sponsors. Cross-border property and retirement, written for North American buyers.