I keep telling you that Romania is a very safe country to live in, but even so, there must be a “most dangerous city” here, right?
I decided to take a look at the statistics and see what experts have to say in this regards, then compare this with outsourced data from the people living in Romania and then share with you the most dangerous cities in Romania.
Spoiler alert: even these “dangerous” cities are very safe to visit or live in. As you will see, I actually visited and even lived in these cities for years, without a problem.
But enough intros, let’s get into it now!
The most dangerous cities in Romania
While different studies give different results, the cities that also make it on the lists of the most dangerous in Romania are Bucharest, Iasi, and Constanta.
Also mentioned are these cities: Alexandria, Suceava, Bacau, or Calarasi, Craiova and Satu Mare.
First, I looked at the ANERSFR website (the official organization in the country monitoring the safety in Romania’s cities).
According to them, the most dangerous cities in Romania are Bucharest, Iasi, Constanta, and Cluj.
According to a different study noted by Newsweek (but, since it’s Romanian journalism we’re talking about, not actually linked to), the most dangerous Romanian cities are Alexandria, Suceava, Satu Mare, Bacau, and Calarasi.
Funny enough, in this study, Cluj Napoca is considered as one of the safest cities in the country.
To make things even more complicated, data aggregator website Numbeo ranks Craiova as the most dangerous city in Romania, followed by Constanta, Iasi and Bucharest.
What to make out of these studies?
The first mentioned study simply takes into consideration the sheer amount of crime in a city (not its severity), while the later two studies are based on the opinion of the people living there.
It makes sense to have more petty crime in larger cities than in smaller ones, simply because there are more people living there.
So I would trust more the people’s opinion instead of plain numbers.
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Even more, if we look at all the studies, we start to see some common mentions: Bucharest, Constanta, and Iasi are generally considered among the most dangerous in Romania.
I have lived both in Bucharest and Constanta and I can safely (no pun intended!) say that I have never felt unsafe here. I’ve also visited Craiova recently and never felt threatened.
The same goes about all cities in Romania: petty crime is what drives the numbers up, and usually the violence is between people who share a common grudge, and not towards strangers.
Or limited to specific area, like the (more) dangerous Ferentari neighborhood in Bucharest.
Final words
For an overall safe country, listing the most dangerous city makes little sense, because even there, 99% of the population or tourists will never have a problem.
However, as we have seen, cities like Bucharest, Constanta, and Iasi are generally considered less safe than others in Romania or have a higher crime rate.
This makes sense because these are also some of the largest in the country and there are simply more people to drive the numbers up.
If you want to get more in-depth with specific places, you can read my previous articles on the matter:
- Is Cluj Napoca Dangerous?
- Is Constanta, Romania Safe?
- And more generic related topics, Nuclear Danger in Romania and Why Are Romanians Frowned Upon in Europe?
What are your thoughts on the matter? Have you had any bad experiences here in Romania? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
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I travel to Romania every summer for 3 weeks and I have felt safe no matter where I go, Constanta, Sighisoara, Brasov, Mamaia, Sibiu, Timisoara, Ploiesti, Dudu, Rosa, no matter where I went I felt very safe knowing that the Romanian people are very nice people and enjoy sharing their culture with visitors
Thanks for sharing your opinion, Mikel! It’s always good to see that others have the same feelings as mine and that the conclusion is that all cities in Romania are safe.
I know you are talking about low level street crime. But I would also be uncomfortable with high level “crime” in Romania which occurs at the political, administrative, and judicial levels of government.
In the USA, you can add large corporations who are able to bend government regulations in their favor through bribery, excuse me, I meant to say political lobbying. There are whole industries whose business models rely on killing people for profit. The tobacco, fossil fuel, meat & dairy, gun, and sugar industries come to mind. Each one employs an army of lobbyists in Washington, DC, so they can continue their murderous businesses with government subsidies and/or legal impunity.
The medical industry, which is supposed to cure sickness and promote a healthy life, is more concerned with squeezing every last dollar out of its patients. That also describes the industries that provide rental housing and academic education to Americans.
So in the USA, we are being slowly murdered and robbed of our money by private industry. I could get started on the way local and state government authorities rob their citizens blind (look up civil forfeiture) but I think this has been a sufficient rant for one post. Have a nice day!
That is true, Stuart! If these crimes you’re talking about would somehow be quantified, I am sure they’d change the local and global landscape.
Unfortunately, what you describe to be happening in the US also happens in here in Romania… and probably all over the world. Corporations are getting larger and greedier constantly.
Wow, guys, I’m living in Argentina and the same is happening here and Chile and Mexico! Petty crime is blooming because people can’t make an honest living anymore.