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San Nicolás

High incidence Population: 12.487
7.120
Rate per 100,000 inhabitants (2025)
#45 of 346
National rank
#1 of 21
Regional rank

Annual evolution (2005–present)

Rising
23% above national average
42% above regional average

Reported incidence by crime category (2025)

Life crimes 1768
Property crimes 1131
Violent robbery 88
Disorder 2875
Domestic violence 1011
Drug crimes 151
Weapons 96

Comparable commune (same region)

Pinto Ñuble
6.736 per 100k inh. #58 of 346 Rising

View on Map

See San Nicolás on the interactive Chile crime map →

Similar Communes in This Region

Communes in Ñuble with similar reported CEAD incidence rates:

Commune Rate per 100k
National rank Trend
Pinto 6.736 #58 Rising
Quillón 6.210 #77 Stable
Bulnes 5.810 #111 Declining
Chillán 5.442 #134 Declining
Yungay 5.291 #145 Stable

Crime type glossary

Rankings by Crime Type

San Nicolás (Ñuble region) registers a reported incidence rate that places it in the upper quarter of Chilean communes. The CEAD series reflects a rising trend, with 7,120.1 incidents per 100,000 inhabitants recorded in 2025 — national rank 45 of 346.

San Nicolás is one of the communes that make up the Ñuble region. Within the region, it holds regional rank 1, 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.

Compared with the per-capita national mean across Chilean communes, San Nicolás registers reported incidence that is moderately above average — roughly 23% higher than the mean in 2025. While this signals elevated reported activity relative to the national baseline, the rate also reflects factors specific to the commune's urban context and population density.

Within Ñuble, San Nicolás registers reported incidence moderately above the regional per-capita mean — roughly 42% higher in 2025. The commune's position within its region reflects both absolute incidence levels and the distribution of reported activity across other Ñuble communes.

In 2025, the leading category in San Nicolás'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 San Nicolás'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 San Nicolás's data is Pinto (Ñuble), identified as the nearest comparable commune within the same region based on reported incidence. In 2025, Pinto recorded approximately 6,736.3 incidents per 100,000 inhabitants, compared with 7,120.1 for San Nicolás. The two communes share a similar incidence tier, making the comparison informative for understanding San Nicolás's position relative to a concrete peer rather than an abstract national average. Pinto holds national rank 58 of 346.

Looking at the full CEAD time series, San Nicolás recorded 2,408.7 incidents per 100,000 inhabitants in 2005. Since then, the reported rate has increased, reaching 7,120.1 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 7,120.1 incidents per 100,000 inhabitants for San Nicolás 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.