Crap Towns / Dyfed / Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth
78/100Crap Score
218th crappest of 984 towns, and 5th in Dyfed. Higher scores are crapper.
Have your say
Crap Town of the Year 2026/27
See the raceThe public vote. It's separate from the Crap Score, and it closes on 31 December 2027.
Letters from the locals
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agree it's crap have defended it
Miles from anywhere and pissed with it
Prom's all right. Students are pissed. The train home takes all day.
Aber's got a prom and the starlings, and that's about your lot. Kick the bar at the end of the prom for luck, then turn round, because there's nowhere else to go. Getting anywhere else takes a day.
The rest is students, and the students are pissed. There are two and a half times the typical town's pubs per head and over five times its public bogs, which tells you how the evening goes. Drugs offences run at nearly five times the typical town's rate. It's a university town. Nobody's fainting.
For a place full of students, gigabit broadband reaching 61.5% of premises is a bit shit. Bangor's the rival. Both at the end of a railway line, both full of students, both sure they're better. The gulls nick your chips either way.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Aberystwyth's 99 for broadband means it's crapper than 99% of towns.
- Broadband99/10038.5% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 41.3% across the Ceredigion council area
- Criminal damage and arson88/10011.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills83/1001,020 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain83/100160 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Anti-social behaviour81/10014.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions76/1003.3 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Food hygiene65/1003.3% rated 0 to 2, of the 182 food businesses with a rating
- Deliberate fires50/100
- Fly-tipping1/1002.9 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Ceredigion council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Air pollution0/1003.0 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 4.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carmarthen | 91 |
| 2 | Llanelli | 90 |
| 3 | Milford Haven | 87 |
| 4 | Haverfordwest | 84 |
| 5 | Aberystwyth | 78 |
Aberystwyth by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 116 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 1.5x the typical town's 76.2
- 13 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 8.9 per 10,000 people, 2.6x the typical town's 3.4
- 0 of 3 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 19 pubs, 4 hairdressers, 7 charity shops, 1 bookmaker, 1 vape shop, 5 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 11.1% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (2 of 18) Worse: 2.8x the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 13.7 per 100,000 people, 4x the typical town's 3.4
- 12 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 8.2 per 10,000 people, 5.1x the typical town's 1.6
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.20pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.0% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2x the typical town's 0.5%
- 47.3% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 3.1x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,538 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Ceredigion council
Have a crap-off
Aberystwyth against your mate's town, and a match ticket to rub it in.
- ?Fly-tippingper 1,000, council area?
- ?Anti-social behaviourper 1,000 people?
- ?Serious road crashesper 10,000 people?
- ?Sewage spillshours per 10,000 people?
- ?Food hygienerated poor?
- ?Criminal damageper 1,000 people?
- ?Dirty airµg/m³?
- ?No gigabitof premises can't get it?
- ?Deliberate firesper 10,000 people?
- ?Raindays a year?
Ten ingredients. One verdict. Who's crapper? The higher Crap Score takes it.