How do crime rates in San Salvador compare to other Central American capitals?
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Executive summary
San Salvador (and El Salvador broadly) has seen a dramatic fall in homicides since 2015 — official figures and analysts place national homicide rates at about 1.9 per 100,000 in 2024 and even lower by some 2025 projections, after peaking above 100 per 100,000 in 2015 [1] [2] [3]. Other Central American countries — notably Honduras and Guatemala — continue to report substantially higher national homicide rates (Honduras ~31–35 per 100,000 in recent years), so by the most-cited metrics El Salvador is now among the least deadly in the region [4] [5] [6].
1. Dramatic turnaround: numbers show El Salvador falling from worst to among the best
El Salvador’s homicide rate collapsed from a peak of roughly 105 homicides per 100,000 in 2015 to about 2.4 in 2023 and 1.9 in 2024, according to Human Rights Watch summary of official figures and Statista/InSight Crime compilations [2] [1]. By mid‑2025 local reporting and government data suggested an even lower trajectory for 2025, with some outlets projecting a rate near or below 1 per 100,000 [7] [3]. These national figures place El Salvador well below the region’s historical high‑violence countries and make its recent homicide rate among the lowest in Central America by headline metrics [4].
2. How the region compares: Honduras and Guatemala remain much higher
Central America remains heterogeneous. Honduras and Guatemala have persistently elevated homicide rates: Honduras reported rates in the 30s per 100,000 in recent years and has been one of the region’s most violent states [5] [6]. Regional datasets used by Statista and UNODC place El Salvador near the bottom of homicide rankings by country for 2023 and 2024 while countries such as Honduras, Guatemala and parts of Nicaragua or Belize register far higher per‑capita killings [4] [8].
3. Capitals vs. national averages: San Salvador’s local picture is more complex
National homicide declines do not automatically make every city equally safe. Historically San Salvador city had extremely high homicide rates and volatile gang control; past city‑level rates exceeded many national averages [9] [10]. Sources show subnational variance in homicide rates across Latin America is large — municipal differences can be an order of magnitude greater than between countries — so capital cities can diverge from national trends [11]. Available sources do not provide a current, directly comparable homicide figure for San Salvador city alone in 2024–25; they report national rates and historical city data [1] [2] [9].
4. Policy and human‑rights trade‑offs: security gains tied to harsh measures
Analysts and reports attribute much of El Salvador’s drop in homicides to aggressive policies since 2022, including a long state of exception and mass arrests (tens of thousands detained) under President Bukele’s administration; U.S. and international sources link the security gains to extraordinary policing and incarceration measures [12] [13] [14]. The Denver Journal of International Law & Policy and Congressional reporting document that about 80–84,000 people were detained between 2022 and early 2025 and note overcrowded prisons, due‑process concerns and deaths in custody [12] [13]. Human Rights Watch emphasizes the sharp fall in homicides but documents related rights issues in the same period [2].
5. Trust and measurement: official numbers vs. outside verification
International compilations (InSight Crime, Statista, UNODC summaries) reflect the same downward trend and rank El Salvador among the lowest homicide rates regionally for 2023–24 [1] [4] [15]. At the same time, independent watchdogs and human rights groups warn that heavy reliance on police or government figures requires scrutiny because the security measures producing those numbers also constrained civil liberties and generated reports of abuses [12] [2]. Available sources do not present a fully independent audit of homicide reporting practices in 2024–25; they rely on official tallies and external compilations [1] [2].
6. What this means for comparisons and travelers: headline figures are useful but incomplete
On headline per‑capita homicide metrics, El Salvador in 2023–24 moved from one of Central America’s most violent states to one of its least violent, meaning San Salvador’s risk profile on paper now compares favorably to capitals in Honduras and Guatemala [1] [4] [5]. But because subnational violence still varies widely and because the security strategy in El Salvador has involved mass detentions and rights concerns, a simple ranking obscures important context about how safety was achieved and whether it is sustainable [11] [12] [2].
Limitations: reporting here relies on the sources supplied; city‑level 2024–25 homicide rates for San Salvador specifically are not present in the provided materials, so direct city‑to‑city numeric comparisons cannot be made from these sources alone (not found in current reporting; see [1]; [7]1).