The short answer
To judge how safe Querétaro is, use official sources: INEGI's ENSU measures perceived insecurity in cities every quarter, its ENVIPE survey estimates yearly victimization, and SESNSP publishes reported crimes every month. Check the latest edition and compare it with earlier periods rather than relying on unsourced rankings.
Safety is one of the first questions people ask before moving. Instead of repeating rankings of doubtful origin, this guide explains which official sources exist, what each one measures and how to combine them with your own observations on the street where you plan to live. We make no claims about specific neighborhoods.
What does INEGI's ENSU measure?
The National Urban Public Safety Survey runs every quarter in cities across Mexico and asks residents aged 18 and over whether they feel unsafe in their city and in places such as public transport, the street or at an ATM. It measures perception, which makes it useful for trends and for comparing cities with the same method.
Source: INEGI: Encuesta Nacional de Seguridad Pública Urbana (ENSU)
What does ENVIPE add?
The National Survey of Victimization and Perception of Public Safety is annual and estimates how many households and people suffered a crime, whether or not it was reported. That is why it complements official crime records. Results are published by state.
Source: INEGI: Encuesta Nacional de Victimización y Percepción sobre Seguridad Pública (ENVIPE) 2025
What does SESNSP publish?
The Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System releases monthly crime figures from opened investigation files, by state and municipality, as open data. It reflects reported crime, so it can understate offenses people do not report.
How do you read these numbers without confusion?
Compare like-for-like periods, use rates per population where possible, and do not mix perception with incidence. A city can have low perceived insecurity and still see some crimes rise, or the other way around. Always note the edition date you are looking at, since the data is updated often.
- ENSU: quarterly perception by city.
- ENVIPE: yearly victimization by state, including unreported crime.
- SESNSP: monthly reported crime by municipality.
Source: INEGI: Encuesta Nacional de Seguridad Pública Urbana (ENSU), INEGI: Encuesta Nacional de Victimización y Percepción sobre Seguridad Pública (ENVIPE) 2025, SESNSP: Datos abiertos de incidencia delictiva
What should you check in the area you like?
Official data gives the big picture; a specific street is best understood in person. Go by day and by night, look at street lighting, foot traffic and open shops. In gated communities, ask how access works, whether there are guards and who pays for them, and talk to a neighbor.
More detail
Measures at home matter too: sound locks, outdoor lighting, and neighbors who agree to alert each other about anything unusual. No setup removes risk entirely, but several small steps add up.
Why don't we publish neighborhood rankings?
Official figures are not released by neighborhood with the same regularity, and the lists that circulate often blend sources and dates. We would rather give you the tools to check the original information and form your own view, together with what you see when you visit.
Where can you download and browse the data?
INEGI publishes ENSU and ENVIPE results on its website, with tables, presentations and microdata. SESNSP offers open-data files of municipal and state crime incidence that you can filter by municipality, crime type and month.
If you would rather avoid spreadsheets, the press release for each edition summarizes the main findings. Always read the methodology note: it explains what is measured, how the data is collected and what its limits are.
Source: INEGI: Encuesta Nacional de Seguridad Pública Urbana (ENSU), INEGI: Encuesta Nacional de Victimización y Percepción sobre Seguridad Pública (ENVIPE) 2025, SESNSP: Datos abiertos de incidencia delictiva
