Crap Towns / South Glamorgan / Barry
Barry
15/100Crap Score
834th crappest of 984 towns, and 2nd in South Glamorgan. 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 Barry? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Barry. It's not the Caribbean, love.
The island's all right. Holton Road's had it.
Locals call it Barrybados, and with 1,704 hours of sunshine a year it's only half taking the piss. The island beach is all right and the arcades still go. Then the sun comes out, the whole of Cardiff turns up and nobody can move.
Back in town, Holton Road's shops are shutting faster than the parking zones change, and nobody on earth understands the parking zones. There are 44 hairdressers, so at least everyone looks nice sat in the traffic. Watch House Bay came out Poor for bathing water, so pick your bit of sea. Barry's fine, really. Don't tell it.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Barry's 76 for rain means it's crapper than 76% of towns.
- Rain76/100152 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Criminal damage and arson69/1008.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene60/1002.9% rated 0 to 2, of the 343 food businesses with a rating
- Deliberate fires50/100
- Sewage spills39/100164 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour35/10012.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution26/1007.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.2 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Broadband25/1003.0% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 9.0% across the Vale of Glamorgan council area
- Serious road collisions7/1001.2 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Fly-tipping0/1001.7 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Vale of Glamorgan council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cardiff | 63 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.2 | Barry | 15 |
| 3 | Penarth | 8 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Barry by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 92.4 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 21% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 21 reports of fly-tipping on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 3.7 per 10,000 people, 3.4x the typical town's 1.1
- 1 of 4 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025; 1 rated Poor
What's left on the high street
- 17 pubs, 44 hairdressers, 10 charity shops, 5 bookmakers, 2 vape shops, 8 banks, 3 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 4.4% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (3 of 68) Worse: 10% higher than the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 About the same: 3.5 per 100,000 people, about the same as the typical town's 3.4
- 6 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.1 per 10,000 people, 31% lower than the typical town's 1.6
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.10am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 20% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 1.7% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 89% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,704 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 11% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Vale of Glamorgan council
Have a crap-off
Barry 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.