Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - For many, the thought of living in certain places in Mexico can be alluring: fabulous beaches, colonial cities, inexpensive, quality health care, a slower pace and much lower cost of living. But some people mistakenly think that it isn't safe.

Any country has crime and the U.S. and Canada are not exempt from this. Generally speaking, should one innocent be affected by crime in Mexico it would most likely be because of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. More serious crime is not nearly as rampant as the media indicates, although it's important to avoid certain areas and to exercise common sense at all times, no matter where you are.

To determine the public's perception of security in cities throughout Mexico, every year during the first two weeks of March, June, September and December, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) conducts a National Urban Public Security Survey (ENSU).

For the third quarter of 2017, the ENSU polled residents in 54 cities, plus the four regions of Mexico City (North, South, East and West).

In this latest report, published on Tuesday, October 17, 2017, the cities in which the public felt safest were: Mérida, Yucatan, where only 27.4% of the people surveyed said they felt insecure; Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco (28.9%); Piedras Negras (34.3%) and Saltillo (42.2%), Coahuila; Durango, Durango (44.2%); and San Francisco de Campeche, where 44.4% of the population felt they were likely to be a victim of crime.

The number of people who felt unsafe in Puerto Vallarta was a little lower in September (28.9%) than it was in June's survey (29.5%), however, the city got pushed out of first place by Merida, which fell from 30.7% to 27.4 percent.

Puerto Vallarta also stands out among municipalities where citizens recognize the efficiency of their authorities to solve problems, with 57.8% of the population aged 18 years and older saying they considered the city's government to be "very or somewhat effective" in solving the most important problems. This is pretty impressive, as the national average for perceived crime prevention effectiveness in surveyed cities is just 23.6%.

Among the places with the highest perception of insecurity, Villahermosa, Tabasco; Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz; the northern region of Mexico City; Reynosa, Tamaulipas; Ecatepec de Morelos in the State of Mexico; and the eastern region of Mexico City stand out with 98.4, 97.0, 94.8, 93.6, 93.5 and 93%, respectively. In the case of Mexico City, nine out of 10 people surveyed indicated that they feel insecure living in the north and east regions of the metropolis.

The survey also ranked the places where people feel more likely to be a victim of any crime in any city; 81.8% of the respondents said that they felt insecure at ATMs, 74.6% said on public transport, 68% said that they always feel insecure on the streets they usually walk, and 67.7% indicated that they felt unsafe while inside a bank.