The Mexican government has recently released crime data from their drug wars database. It presumably covers all murders to have link to the drug cartels which total at least seven in number.

The number of deaths rose sharply since 2006 until the end of 2010, by far the most violent year with 15,273 persons killed.

The chart shown by clicking on the link below
shows the distribution of where the killings took place down to the city level. While no region has escaped, violent crime is particularly intense in northern and Pacific coastal states. The large red markers show places with over 70 deaths.   The figures show how many of those killed are presumed to be related to the cartels, how many belonged to the security forces, or how many were innocent civilian bystanders.

Except for the border towns, the entire Baja Peninsula has fairly low incidence of violent crime. On the Pacific Coast, Puerto Vallarta area is safe but Mazatlan, Z-town and Acapulco has seen its share of problems recently. If possible stay within known resort areas or yachting centers, avoid traveling to Mexico by road and steer clear of U.S. border areas.

Click here for interactive chart

Click on each dot to get the details.