If you ever considered visiting a trendy El Salvador for its lush jungle, unspoiled Pacific beaches and vibrant capital city, but you’ve always been taken aback by how dangerous it is––was?––as a destination, we’ve got great news for you.
For the first time since records began, the U.S. State Department has added the Central American country to its list of moderately safe destinations, known among travel geeks as Level 2, on a par with Mexico, Belize, and Costa Rica.
In other words, El Salvador is no longer off-limits to U.S. citizens, and they can plan their trip knowing it’s now (far) less likely harm will come their way:
El Salvador Finally Gets Its Level 2 Status!
On November 8, 2025, the State Department downgraded El Salvador from Level 3 to Level 2, finally acknowledging the significant improvement in security across the country following months of pressure of deliberation.
Prior to 2022, El Salvador was known as one of the homicide capitals of Central America, with staggering levels of violent and petty crime plaguing a majority of its cities, especially San Salvador, the capital home to over half a million of the country’s 6.3 million inhabitants.
In only two years, however, it went from a crime hotspot to one of the region’s safe havens, largely due to the tough stance on organized crime taken by incumbent President Nayib Bukele: it’s not been without criticism, but it seems to be paying off.
In March 2022, Mr Bukele announced a ‘State of Exception’ across the territory that made incarcerating criminals and traffickers a lot easier––some would argue arbitrarily, with critics pointing out the due process was not always observed, but the numbers don’t lie:
El Salvador went from a shocking homicide rate of 105 per 100,000 people in 2015 to only 2.4 per 100,000 in the latest count: either the usual murderers have had a change of heart since, or they ended up in jail following Bukele’s mass incarceration program.
We’re banking on the latter.
How Safe Is El Salvador In Reality?
According to the Global Security Report, 88% of El Salvadorians feel their country is now safe to live in, helping it place number 8 on the overall chart, ahead of exceptionally-safe countries like Canada, Iceland, Finland and Japan, even.
That’s not to say El Salvador is safer than those countries: as we pointed out previously, a majority of El Salvadorians may feel their livelihoods have improved, thus contributing to a positive turnout, but a Swiss or Icelandic person is probably less likely to feel as safe in El Salvador.
It’s all a matter of perspective.
Regardless, the country’s success in tackling crime and becoming low-risk by Central American and Latin American standards is truly unprecedented, not to say mind-blowing.
This Is Why The U.S. Has Changed Its Position On El Salvador
The United States Department has 4 main categories to categorize countries when it comes to safety:
- Level 1: normal precautions must be taken
- Level 2: increased caution should be exercised
- Level 3: travel should be reconsidered
- Level 4: travel is strongly discouraged
In the years it battled the surge in crime, El Salvador was placed at Levels 3 and 4, at different periods of time, and even throughout 2023, when it had already become clear the security situation had changed, Washington refrained from revising its advisory.
The fact that it now features at Level 2 sends a strong signal to Americans their own Government recognizes the El Salvadorian administration’s effort in quashing crime, but feels confident they will continue upholding their promise to citizens and tourists alike.
They have noted ‘crime remains a concern in El Salvador‘, while adding ‘there has been a significant reduction in gang-related activity and associated crime in the last two years’, with a noticeable drop in violent crimes and murders.
The State Department mentions the ‘State of Exception’, which continues to be in place, citing the suspension of constitutional rights for prisoners, and the fact that several U.S. and foreign citizens are currently detained under ‘harsh’ conditions.
We do not know whether these individuals are involved with crime, though that is very likely, and again, as long as you have a clean record, and you’re not coming to El Salvador with malicious intent, you’ll be welcomed with open arms.
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