Baja California Sur is earning a quieter kind of headline this fall: businesses here report feeling safer than almost anywhere else in Mexico, according to a new national survey.
The Encuesta Nacional de Victimización de Empresas (ENVE) 2026, conducted by Mexico’s national statistics agency INEGI (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía), asked private business owners across the country whether they considered their state unsafe between March and May of this year. Baja California Sur posted one of the lowest rates in the country, with just 31.6% of surveyed businesses describing their state as insecure.
Only Coahuila scored lower, at 26.4%. Querétaro (35%), Yucatán (35.6%) and Aguascalientes (36.7%) rounded out the top five. The national average came in at 71.2%, meaning most Mexican business owners surveyed still view crime as a serious operating risk where they live.
Where the Numbers Look Worse
At the other end of the ranking, Morelos (87.2%), the State of Mexico (85.6%), Puebla (85.3%), Michoacán (83.9%) and Guerrero (83.2%) reported the highest perceived insecurity among business owners, according to the survey.
Nationally, crime and delinquency ranked as the single biggest worry for Mexican businesses during the survey period, cited by 57.1% of the economic units INEGI polled, ahead of concerns like inflation or red tape. That makes Baja California Sur’s low number stand out even more — the state is bucking a trend that dominates business sentiment almost everywhere else in the country.
What the Survey Does — and Doesn’t — Measure
It’s worth being precise about what this data actually captures. ENVE measures how private business owners perceive crime risk in the state where they operate. It doesn’t poll visitors or everyday residents about how safe they feel walking around town, and it isn’t a measure of the actual crime rate.
Even so, the result lines up with other recent findings, including a separate survey that found Los Cabos is perceived as one of the safest municipalities in Mexico. Together, the two data points suggest Baja California Sur’s reputation for relative calm isn’t just marketing — it shows up when government statisticians ask people with money on the line.
That doesn’t mean crime concerns have disappeared everywhere in the country. A related reading on urban safety perception, covered in a report on security worries in Mexican cities, found residents in several major metro areas remain notably concerned, a reminder that the national picture is mixed even as BCS trends in the opposite direction.
Why It Matters This Winter
Baja California Sur’s business owners seeing less reason to worry adds a useful data point for anyone weighing where to spend the winter season or where to put investment dollars. The state has also recently posted strong numbers on other fronts, including ranking among the states with the lowest poverty in the country.
None of this replaces ordinary travel common sense. Visitors and residents alike should still take the usual precautions — securing valuables, using licensed taxis or ride apps, and staying aware in unfamiliar areas — regardless of how a state scores on a national survey. For a region whose economy leans heavily on confidence from both tourists and investors, though, a ranking this good is one more reason the winter season ahead looks promising.
