The SAFEST cities in MEXICO? - NOT EVEN CLOSE

Recently, @nomadcapitalist published a video on the safest cities in Mexico. While some of the cities that he mentioned deserve to be on the list, there are others that I completely disagree with.

In this video, I'm going to give you my thoughts on the safety in various popular expat destinations around Mexico such as Mexico City, Merida, Guadalajara, Cabo San Lucas, Lake Chapala, and others.

00:00 Safest Cities In Mexico - Video Reaction
00:14 Merida, Yucatan by Nomad Capitalist
00:52 Merida's Safety - My Take
01:23 Playa Del Carmen Safety
02:02 Playa Del Carmen - My Take
02:45 Mexico City Safety
04:00 Mexico City - My Thoughts
05:43 Why Mexicans are moving to Queretaro from Mexico City
06:08 Mexico City - Scary Crime Stats
07:27 Puerto Vallarta - Nomad Capitalist's Thoughts
07:50 Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco - My thoughts
08:21 Guadalajara / Lake Chapala / Ajijic Safety
09:11 Guadalajara / Laka Chapala - My thoughts on safety
09:56 Oaxaca City
10:12 Why I wouldn't live in Oaxaca City
10:41 La Paz and Cabo San Lucas
10:55 Baja California Sur - My Thoughts
11:07 San Miguel de Allende Safety
11:23 San Miguel - Near dangerous cities, but safe
11:40 US State Department Travel Warnings
12:01 The safest states in Mexico
12:57 Very safe places in Mexico that are missing from this list

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

ABOUT ME
I'm Jordan, an American living in Mexico with my Husky, Laska. In January of 2018 I left the US to start traveling Mexico. Since then, I've been making travel videos about my life in Mexico, travel tips, Las Vegas tips videos, and advice for those considering moving abroad.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Tangerine Travels perks & apparel!

Things I mention in my videos!

Follow me on social media!
► INSTAGRAM: tangerinetravelsjordan

We ONLY include affiliate links for products we use, love, and trust. If you make a purchase after clicking on our links, we may earn a commission which helps us continue our travels and produce more videos.

#Mexico #Safety #Expats

[nowthisistinasmith]

I've lived in Mexico for more than 10 years, but the truth is most city is safe as long as you don't involve yourself with anything that will get you in trouble.

[analauragutierrez]

Today I had a terrible experience with an expat here in Mexico City, I usually attend a Club to play Tennis and around the club there are houses . It is a gated community and an American expat appeared and suddenly he started yelling at me. He told me that I couldnt park my car in front of his house. I parked my car in the street, I wasnt infront of a parking Spaces. So he was very aggressive . So please if you come to Mexico please respect ya. We welcome you very much but this kind of behaviors are not ok.

[SarongGoddess]

I AGREE with what they say about Mexico City - MY FAVORITE CITY in the WORLD!! I live in the Zocalo & I - a 66 years YOUNG solo traveling female on a small amount of Social Security - living there 6 months of the year - & I've ALWAYS felt VERY SAFE there because of the police presence & I don't go to bad areas nor drink, do drugs or anything to attract problems. & I usually wear my backpack on the back unless I'm taking public transportation or in a mega crowded area.
I also take DiDi (cheaper & more reliable than Uber).
LOTS of the crime in Mexico does NOT affect tourists/expats!! Or good honest - non-rich people!!

[ErickAsteriason]

I've lived in Mexico City for 10 years and have never been robbed or even close to that lol. I've gotten extorted by the police, but not by criminals.

[rivers]

I watched that guys channel for a bit over covid. It's true he is very informed on a number of international topics, but as you said, he's got a very different level of clients he deals with. They can afford to be safe anywhere in the world they choose to go.
He also throws out a lot of opinions based on his beliefs that are not necessarily based in fact. That doesn't do anyone any good.
I'm glad you followed up on that video. It needed clarification.
Good job.

[RobertWilson-ouie]

I have lived in Roma Norte and Del Valle Norte for 13 years and know many Americans who have lived in these neighborhoods for decades. We all have never been victims of crime. We are not wealthy but we do own apartments and are very happy here. So while you may have statistics to support your argument, people I know and it is dozens, have never experienced crime here.

[oscaspunkja]

I moved from Saltillo to St Louis a few years ago and it's been a big difference for me, now I worry every day for everything here: where do I park, what places I go, what stores I visit, at what time I come back home, who I can and cannot speak, whether if I'm safe speaking Spanish in public, and many other things that people here just normalize

[samuelrruiz]

Aguascalientes is really safe actually, being the capital of its homonymous state has all of the amenities that you'll need, its population is 1, 300, 000; the only downside I see is that the regions surrounding the state (not the city, the state) are quite dangerous, if you wanna go in vacation outside the city either you hit the "highway" between 7am - 3 pm or you take an airplane, Aguascalientes is an "oasis" between south Zacatecas and "el Bajio" in north-east Jalisco.
As all cities it has its dangerous zones (this one's ubicated in the outskirts of the city), but in general you can be outside in the downton region till 10-11 pm and everything will be fine; thanks to the size of the city and its main 3 “highways” in the form of rings you can go in car from one tip of the city to the other in 25 minutes.
The Centennial Miguel Hidalgo Hospital is in the top 50 best hospitals in Mexico.
There is various parks in the city, the biggest one being the “Rodolfo Landeros Park” which was previously the state’s airport so it's considerably big and has plenty of Family Recreational Services, in front of this park is a commercial center with a cinema and at a distance of 10 minutes on foot is the “Aguascalientes theater” home of the state orchestra.
The Autonomous University of Aguascalientes (UAA) is the 136th best university in all of Latin America and its degrees have validity throughout Mexico and most can be validated in the USA as well.
I've lived my whole life in this city, I hope this helps you.

[chrisgoeswest]

I love Mexico City, but he is definitely sugar-coating things. Even Centro, which during the day feels very secure, empties out and gets dicey at night. I have been told by Mexican nationals that the crime statistics are significantly understated. Actually, they said the stats are "made up." I agree with you that his take on Guadalajara is really off. Beautiful city, not a "safest" city. To be honest, I have enjoyed watching Nomad Capitalist in the past, but this video really makes me doubt his information.

[samuelrruiz]

6:42 In this table from the INEGI (National Institute of Statistics and Geography [of Mexico]) says that Zacatecas is one of the most secure states of the country, and thas a lie, the city of Zacatecas usually has curfews starting at 7pm, Loreto and Fresnillo have very high levels of murders per 100, 000 inhabitants, in fact Fresnillo (located in the heart of Zacatecas state) is the most dangerous municipality in the country,
I consider that to have an idea of ​​the security of the state it is better or at least highly recommended to see the murder rates per 100, 000 inhabitants and the peace rates.

[rpliegos]

Mexico City as a whole is dangerous, but the city is so large that you will usually be living and working and doing your whole life activities within a specific zone and no its not just the Polanco - Roma - Condesa squares, there are many other nice neighborhoods. Just don't go where you shouldn't and be careful if you use public transportation. Same applies to Guadalajara and it is a lovely city to live in... Tip from a Mexican from Mexico City...

[bi]

Please dont delete my comment again, im from oaxaca and i have the right to speak about my experience. As i said, I live in Oaxaca and most of the Americans i've met were very...rude. One of em, an old man, smashed a book in my chest in a conversation exchange just because i interrupted him by accident. Another one rejected to speak in spanish despite he has living here in Oaxaca the last 15 years, and he have never tried to learn spanish because he lives in a place where there are only Americans "expats" as they used to call themselves (obviously, never inmigrants, of course). Women staring at me like if i was something disgusting, etc. Friends of mine have had similar experiences too. I dont know, i try to be open mind but i have had bad experiences with americans most of the time. Many of em come here thinking that they are intelectualy superior than us, and you can feel it. They come here to taste our food and live Oaxacas culture, but they totally reject the people from Oaxaca. Im not sure if is because most of the population of Oaxaca is indigenous.

[thealternativecontrarian]

Andrew doesn't live in CDMX very much and wherever he lives, he's always in gated high class communities so his perspective on safety is warped. He has talked highly about Bogota but I know where he lives there... up in a hilly area with all the embassies. Nothing happens up there. Yet he talks highly about safety in Bogota.

[ElJefe]

I’m a big fan of the Nomad Capitalist vids, but I’ve learned to take his Mexico opinions with a grain of salt.

[TheRayInPV]

Mexico City being one of the safest cities in Mexico? Man the guy in the video I guess doesn't watch the Mexican news. As a Puerto Vallarta native I traveled to Mexico City a couple of years ago and stayed at the Holiday in in downtown Mexico City near the Zocalo. It was about 5pm and we left the hotel and walked around looked at shops and eventually ended up at a KFC, spent about 40 minutes eating and when we exited the restaurant, we were greeted by a ghost town. All shops were closed, no one walking the streets, almost looked like a scene out of I Am Legend. Got to the hotel and the doorman asked us where we had gone, we said KFC and he said that we should be careful walking around in the evening because we could get mugged. I asked him about all the shops being closed, he said they do that because after dark thieves would rob the stores and police presences is basically null. That's just one personal experience, just watch the news on Mexico City and you'll hear more stories that definitely don't make it one of the safest cities in Mexico.

[FierceFearlessTravel]

I live in Puerto Vallarta. It is very safe here. Unfortunately it is quite high in rent so I may go somewhere else in the new year. Hence why researching where I should go next.

[mattferencevich]

I watched his videos also with my gf who disagreed with some of his safest cities. Peter Santenello just did a video on Mexico city on safety, rent etc.
My gf lives in Xalapa. She said many small towns in this state dont have police and crime is bad and these states. Her moms town had several males purposely killed by Cartel that did not make the news about 1.5 years ago. Her mom said her town she will not take me too its too dangerous for me to go to.

[livinb]

We spent some time in San Luis Potosí, not far from Querétaro. It was a beautiful colonial city, just big enough to have everything. The centro area had family’s doing family things until late in the evening. Stats show it on the safer side, too. On the surface it looked like Querétaro, north.

[doingtime]

Mexican from Mexico City here, Jordan's analysis is pretty much on point. I also watch the capitalist guy but he does have a bit of a distorted view since he is in a bubble of rich people (as Jordan pointed out too).

[Raul-Curmina]

Yes!! Playa del Carmen is not a safe place, there is a lot of organized crime issues goingon