By far Florianópolis is the safest “big” city in Brazil. First of all, it´s not actually big, has less than 500k inhabitants (around 1 million in the metro area), so crime issues are more controlled. Peaceful, chilling, small town vibe. Has few slums, but no big deal. Pretty safe for Brazilian standards.
Considering really big cities (> 1 million), think the safer ones are Belo Horizonte, Curitiba and Brasilia (although this one sucks). Porto Alegre used to be safe too, but as the state government went almost bankrupt, police is having a hard time there, so crime rates are higher
Sao Paulo is ok for tourists regarding safety (much safer in tourist areas than Rio or cities on the Northeast), but has some major safety issues, such as professional gangs specialized in kidnapping or house robbery in the richest areas (things that are uncommon in other Brazilian cities)…
Considering really big cities (> 1 million), think the safer ones are Belo Horizonte, Curitiba and Brasilia (although this one sucks). Porto Alegre used to be safe too, but as the state government went almost bankrupt, police is having a hard time there, so crime rates are higher
Sao Paulo is ok for tourists regarding safety (much safer in tourist areas than Rio or cities on the Northeast), but has some major safety issues, such as professional gangs specialized in kidnapping or house robbery in the richest areas (things that are uncommon in other Brazilian cities)…