Saint Petersburg

Nope.

Numbeo's Safety Index puts Saint Petersburg at 63/100 for crime — that makes it read safer than Russia's national picture overall (36/100 vs 32/100).

Verified Sep 9, 2026Confidence high
36Sketch Score

City page · part of Russia

The one number a country page can't give you

What people who actually live in Saint Petersburg report

Numbeo aggregates thousands of resident-submitted perception surveys into a per-city Crime Index (higher = worse) and its inverse, a Safety Index — the only real city-granularity crime signal feeding this page, alongside Russia's national advisory, political, health, and police-trust data.

Crime Index

37.5

Safety Index

62.5

Source: Numbeo, user-submitted →

Sub-scores

Same real inputs as Russia's national page, with crime swapped for Saint Petersburg's own Numbeo number above.

0advisoryConsensus
32Political Stability
27Police Trust
76Health
72Road Safety
49Natural Disaster
90LGBTQ+
63Crime

Local know-how

Staying safe in Saint Petersburg, specifically

  • Crime: As with most other major cities, do not get into altercations with drunks.
  • • The average street policeman cannot speak any foreign language, but if you look like a tourist, you could be a target for bribes.
  • • Guards at metro stations require random passengers to show carry items and inspect their backpacks. They may even ask you to boot your laptop or show phone screen.
  • • Take care of money, documents, cameras, mobile phones, and anything of value because of pickpocketing.
  • • Theft of photo equipment is really a big problem in Saint Petersburg.
  • • As a general rule, the farther you are from the city center, the more dangerous it is.
Source: Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA) →

Legal status (national law)

Fully legal nationwide since 1993(de-facto illegal and punishment up to death in Chechnya)

Source: Wikipedia — LGBTQ rights by country →

Pack this, know this

The little things that trip people up

🔌

Plug & voltage

C / F · 230V

🚗

Driving side

right

🚨

Emergency

police: 102 or 112 / ambulance: 103 or 112 / fire: 101 or 112

💵

Tipping

While tipping was traditionally frowned upon in Russia it has been emerging after the fall of socialism. Tipping is not necessary, but expected. A tip exceeding 10% would be unusual. Some restaurants may include service into the amount, but that is very rare; if a service charge is included then a tip is not expected. Round up when paying your bill at a restaurant, particularly if it happens to be

Cash vs. Card

Throughout its history Russia has had various versions of the ruble (рубль), which is divided into 100 kopeks (копеек). The latest manifestation, whose ISO code is RUB (replacing the RUR), was introduced in 1998 (although all notes and first issues of coins bear the year 1997). All pre-1998 currency is obsolete. The ruble is sometimes symbolised using ₽, but Wikivoyage will use руб to denote the c

How this compares to Russia

Numbeo's Safety Index puts Saint Petersburg at 63/100 for crime — that makes it read safer than Russia's national picture overall (36/100 vs 32/100).

See the full Russia page and all receipts →

Other Russia cities on SKETCH.WORLD