Crap Towns / Somerset / Bath
Bath
66/100Crap Score
332nd crappest of 984 towns, and the crappest in Somerset. 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 Bath? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Gorgeous, and you can't afford it
Gorgeous buildings, Roman baths and a gull screaming outside your window at dawn.
Bath is beautiful and nobody who lives there will let you forget it. Roman Baths, the Crescent, posh stone everywhere. Also gulls the size of dogs ripping bin bags open and screaming at dawn. Houses cost so much even Londoners wince.
For all that money, superfast broadband misses 3.6% of premises, over seven times the typical town's share. Driving in is a bastard, and 17% of the council's B and C roads need looking at, against 6% across England. Shoplifting comes in at two and a half times the typical town's rate. The buses run all night, which is handy, because nobody can afford to live close enough to walk.
Bath comes out the crappest town in Somerset. Bridgwater must be livid. Lovely to look at. Wouldn't want to pay for it.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Bath's 94 for broadband means it's crapper than 94% of towns.
- Broadband94/10024.0% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 20.7% across the Bath and North East Somerset council area
- Sewage spills77/100770 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour68/10017.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain63/100135 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Fly-tipping60/10011.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Bath and North East Somerset council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Criminal damage and arson53/1007.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions46/1002.3 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Deliberate fires41/1005.5 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Air pollution39/1007.8 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.3 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Food hygiene26/1001.8% rated 0 to 2, of the 848 food businesses with a rating
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bath | 66 |
| 2 | Bridgwater | 57 |
| 3 | Taunton | 52 |
| 4 | Keynsham | 51 |
| 5 | Weston-super-Mare | 51 |
| 6 | Midsomer Norton | 41 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.7 | Chard | 38 |
| 8 | Yeovil | 34 |
| 9 | Minehead | 33 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Bath by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 99.3 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 30% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 1,931 reports of litter and bins on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 205 per 10,000 people, 227.8x the typical town's 0.9
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 74 pubs, 90 hairdressers, 32 charity shops, 6 bookmakers, 2 vape shops, 12 banks, 3 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 3.1% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (2 of 64) Better: 23% lower than the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 cash machine closure assessed by LINK
- 23 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.4 per 10,000 people, 1.5x the typical town's 1.6
- 12 public swimming pools open; 3 closed for good since 2010 Better: 1.3 per 10,000 people, 1.9x the typical English town's 0.7
- 3 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- All night buses on a Wednesday Better: The typical town's last bus goes at 12.14am
- 3.6% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 7.2x the typical town's 0.5%
- 14.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 7% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,590 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Bath and North East Somerset council
- £2,383 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £9 less than the English average
- 24% of Bath and North East Somerset council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 1.5x England's 16%
- 9 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Bath 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.