San Miguel FAQ

How one feels about security can be very personal. And, it is difficult or impossible to predict how any individual might be affected. But here are a couple of facts as I best understand them.

According to the U.S. Department of State five U.S. citizens were murdered in SMA from October 2002 through December 2018. That is about one every three years on average. ...

Approximately 64 murders occurred in SMA in the first six months of this year. That works out to an annual rate of about 75 per 100,000 (64*2 / 1.7). For more background see Causes of Death. ...

It is widely believed that the murders in SMA are cartel related. — link

On our links page there is a section for Security & Crime which has links to a number of resources on the subject.

For posts on this website see the Category Security and Crime. Also specifically, see:
Do you feel safe in SMA?
Causes of Death

Common sense and avoiding known problem areas are a good idea anywhere including here. That would include, for here, avoiding roads between cities at night.

One of the reasons I started looking into this was to be able to answer a similar question for friends and family members from the states: "Is it safe to visit SMA?" My conclusion, for me, was yes, SMA is about as safe as the US, on average. But walk carefully (literally -- cobblestones) and be careful about drinking the tap water.

Maybe others will add their thoughts or other info.

If you decide to chose another location over safety concerns, you should probably rule out all of Mexico. The problems in San Miguel reflect a big jump in violence throughout Mexico.

If she does come to San Miguel de Allende working in a large hotel, I doubt the staff would simply leave her to figure things out on her own; I’m sure she’d be kept apprised of concerning developments though I doubt there would be any that affect her.

Still, as a father at a distance, the news you read would be unsettling. FWIW, none of the bad news you’re reading about happened at hotels, restaurants or on the streets in Centro. There’s 8000 - 10000 expats living in San Miguel and millions of visitors each year. None of them have been directly impacted in the last couple of years by more than street theft or having things stolen from home or hotel.

The other thing to weigh is that “violence” north of the border leans towards unpredictable random acts while the violence in Mexico is very much targeted: domestic violence or gang on gang.

My general take on safety in San Miguel appears here: https://smatoday.groups.io/g/main/wiki/Crime%2C-Security-and-Safety

Wherever your daughter spends her internship, best of luck with her future.

My husband and I have lived here full time for five years, and visited for more than 20. The violence here is around drugs and cartels (same as Mafia) battling for control. We tell our friends,"yes, it is safe if you stay totally away from drugs, or places where drugs are being consumed and/or sold, don't walk lonely streets at night, don't wear flashy jewelry or drive flashy cars, and avoid shoes with leather soles (slippery on stones), backless ("mules" are difficult to keep on here), or flip flops (VERY problematic on stones)".

I'd rather take my chances in San Miguel than in Odessa, El Paso, Dayton, Gilroy....and that was just in August.