It seems as though the United States Government and the U.S. news broadcasters and journalists are doing everything possible to scare visitors to Mexico away!  Or maybe they just want people on vacation to spend their money in the U.S., rather than in another country.
 
We want to assure you that traveling to San Miguel is safer than traveling to some parts of the United States. Yes, there are problems in Mexico, although they tend to be at the border towns.  We know of several local expats who drive to/from the border at Neuvo Laredo several times each year, and they have yet to see anything happening or violence of any kind.
 
When asked about the safety issue of traveling in Mexico and the fact that some Americans have been killed or kidnapped, our standard answer is: 

If you are not a Mexican-born U.S. Citizen or immigrant,

If you do not deal in drugs,

If you do not drive a large, dark, Mercedes with tinted windows,and

If you are not part of the Mafia

Then you are probably much safer than in many U.S. cities.

Sadly, the problems in Mexico are because of drug cartels, Mexican against Mexican. As mentioned above, most problems are happening in some of the border towns.
 
It is still safe in San Miguel, and it is safe to travel from the airports (either Leon or Mexico City) to San Miguel.  Daytrips out of San Miguel are safe.  Walking the streets and walking back to your rental house is safe, although you probably will want to exercise general street smarts and take a cab after dark.  San Miguel is a city of 140,000 inhabitants now, and we do have some crimes of opportunity, like purse snatchings and pickpockets.  But violent crime is still pretty rare here.

One big plus about traveling to Mexico right now:  The U.S. dollar is at an all time high against the peso, 13.34 pesos to the dollar. For years it has been 10 pesos to the dollar. The value of your dollar is now more than 30% greater than this time last year, especially if you eat out at restaurants or buy in the shops in Mexico in pesos.