Crap Towns / West Midlands / Aldridge
Aldridge
36/100Crap Score
Known as The Village.
627th crappest of 984 towns, and 23rd in the West Midlands. 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
Got something to say about Aldridge? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Calls itself a village. Get a grip.
Aldridge calls itself The Village. It's a town. No station, no trains, loads of charity shops.
Aldridge reckons it's a village. It's had the houses, the roads and the people of a town for donkey's years, but say The Village often enough and maybe Walsall goes away. Don't tell them otherwise. They've been promised a railway station for so long the kids who were promised it have got kids. Still no train. Still no sign of one.
For a village, the air's a bit much. The nitrogen dioxide is about half as much again as the typical town's, and landfill smell turns up in 6 of the 13 serious pollution incidents logged round here since 2016. Nearly half the people live further than 400 metres from a park or play area. The Croft's lovely. It can't do the whole bloody town on its own.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Aldridge's 93 for air pollution means it's crapper than 93% of towns.
- Air pollution93/10012.4 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 8.3 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Fly-tipping77/10017.9 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Walsall council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Rain60/100134 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Food hygiene57/1003.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 99 food businesses with a rating
- Serious road collisions54/1002.5 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Broadband46/1008.8% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 5.8% across the Walsall council area
- Criminal damage and arson20/1004.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires17/1003.2 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Sewage spills11/1008.8 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour6/1004.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 19 | Brierley Hill | 56 |
| 20 | Rowley Regis | 41 |
| 21 | Stourbridge | 41 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.22 | Royal Sutton Coldfield | 36 |
| 23 | Aldridge | 36 |
| 24 | Coseley | 35 |
| 25 | Solihull | 30 |
| 26 | Sedgley | 24 |
| 27 | Kingswinford | 19 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Aldridge by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 63.4 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 17% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 22 problems reported on FixMyStreet in the year to October 2026 Better: 13.9 per 10,000 people, 32% lower than the typical town's 20.4
- 13 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 7 pubs, 16 hairdressers, 5 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 1 vape shop, 5 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 14) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 12.6 per 100,000 people, 3.7x the typical town's 3.4
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.6 per 10,000 people, 63% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 1 public swimming pool open Worse: 0.6 per 10,000 people, 14% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.45am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.9% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 1.8x the typical town's 0.5%
- 48.9% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 3.2x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,470 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Walsall council
Have a crap-off
Aldridge 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.