Crap Towns / Gwynedd / Bangor
Bangor
82/100Crap Score
178th crappest of 984 towns. It's the crappest of the two ranked towns in Gwynedd, which isn't hard. 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
Lovely strait. Grim high street.
Lovely view of the Menai Strait. Turn round and it's vape shops and shutters.
Bangor has a nice pier and a big university, and a high street so long and so knackered people compare it to Fallout. Shutters and weeds, and vape shops at eight times the typical town's rate per head. Something's getting nicked from all of them, with shoplifting at well over twice the typical town's rate.
The rain turns up on 169 days a year, and the storm overflows go off for seven times the typical town's hours, so the Menai Strait's getting it too. There are over five times the typical town's public bogs per head, which in a student town is just planning ahead. Caernarfon calls it a dump. For once Caernarfon's right.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Bangor's 93 for broadband means it's crapper than 93% of towns.
- Broadband93/10018.6% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 29.3% across the Gwynedd council area
- Sewage spills93/1001,906 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson91/10011.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain91/100169 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Anti-social behaviour91/10027.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene75/1004.2% rated 0 to 2, of the 167 food businesses with a rating
- Serious road collisions60/1002.7 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Deliberate fires50/100
- Fly-tipping4/1003.8 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Gwynedd council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Air pollution4/1004.5 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 4.6 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bangor | 82 |
| 2 | Holyhead | 77 |
Bangor by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 125 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 1.6x the typical town's 76.2
- 5 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 2.9 per 10,000 people, 15% lower than the typical town's 3.4
What's left on the high street
- 18 pubs, 14 hairdressers, 5 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 4 vape shops, 7 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 9.5% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (2 of 21) Worse: 2.4x the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 11.8 per 100,000 people, 3.5x the typical town's 3.4
- 15 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 8.8 per 10,000 people, 5.5x the typical town's 1.6
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.02am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 2.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 4.2x the typical town's 0.5%
- 16.8% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 8% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,375 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 10% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Gwynedd council
Have a crap-off
Bangor 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.