Pencahue

Pencahue (Maule region) consistently appears among the communes with the highest reported crime incidence in Chile. CEAD data show a stable trend at rank null of 346, with 5,193.6 incidents per 100,000 inhabitants recorded in 2025.

Pencahue is one of the communes that make up the Maule region. Within the region, it holds regional rank null, a position that reflects its incidence level relative to other communes in the same administrative area. Regional comparisons are particularly relevant because they account for shared socioeconomic conditions, urban density patterns, and local reporting infrastructure that may influence measured incidence across the region.

The reported incidence rate of Pencahue in 2025 is close to the per-capita national mean computed across non-low-population communes. The difference is within a narrow margin, suggesting that the commune's reported activity broadly tracks the national level for communes of comparable data quality.

Within Maule, Pencahue's 2025 rate is close to the regional per-capita mean. The commune sits near the midpoint of its regional distribution, indicating that its reported incidence aligns broadly with the typical level for the region.

In 2025, the leading category in Pencahue's reported crime profile was public-order incidents, which accounted for the largest share of total reported incidents. The second most prevalent category was crimes against persons. This composition reflects Pencahue's particular urban and socioeconomic characteristics. The CEAD breakdown covers seven crime families: crimes against persons, property crimes, violent robbery, public-order incidents, domestic violence, drug-related offenses, and weapons offenses. The relative weight of each category in the total rate is visible in the incidence-by-category chart above.

A useful reference point for contextualizing Pencahue's data is San Clemente (Maule), identified as the nearest comparable commune within the same region based on reported incidence. In 2025, San Clemente recorded approximately 5,230.8 incidents per 100,000 inhabitants, compared with 5,193.6 for Pencahue. Because Pencahue has a small resident population, its rate is statistically volatile, so this comparison is offered as the nearest available reference rather than a claim of shared incidence tier. San Clemente holds national rank 154 of 346.

Note: this commune has a small resident population. As a result, the rate per 100,000 inhabitants is statistically sensitive to small variations in absolute event counts. Year-on-year fluctuations may reflect statistical volatility rather than real changes in underlying trends. This commune is excluded from national rankings for this reason. Comparisons with national or regional averages should be interpreted with this caveat in mind.

Looking at the full CEAD time series, Pencahue recorded 3,251 incidents per 100,000 inhabitants in 2005. Since then, the reported rate has increased, reaching 5,193.6 in 2025. The multi-year series is displayed in the sparkline chart above, which shows annual values from 2005 through 2025. The most recent year of partial data (if available) is shown at reduced opacity to indicate that the figure is not yet complete. Year-on-year fluctuations are normal and can reflect changes in recording practices, population estimates, or law enforcement priorities rather than changes in underlying behavior.

The data presented here are sourced from CEAD (Centro de Estudios y Análisis del Delito), the official Chilean body that compiles police-reported crime statistics. All figures represent reported incidents — actual incidence may differ due to under-reporting, which varies by crime type and territory. The 2025 rate of 5,193.6 incidents per 100,000 inhabitants for Pencahue reflects the most recent complete annual data available at the time of this publication. For more information on methodology and the rate-per-100,000 definition, see the methodology section.