Crap Towns / West Midlands / Bilston
Bilston
68/100Crap Score
316th crappest of 984 towns, and 15th 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
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agree it's crap have defended it
Still sulking about Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton took it over years ago. Bilston made a coffin and never got over it.
When Wolverhampton swallowed Bilston, the locals made a coffin and held a funeral for the town. They're still sulking. The market's waiting on a redevelopment that never comes, the High Street's knackered and covered in litter, and the chips are orange. Nobody knows why. Nobody cares.
The vandals stuck around, mind. Criminal damage runs well above the typical town's rate, and deliberate fires at four times it, mostly bins and rubbish going up in smoke. The air's thick enough without them, with 1.6 times the typical town's nitrogen dioxide. There are 13 pubs and 1 hairdresser in the whole town. Nobody's getting a trim for the funeral.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Bilston's 93 for air pollution means it's crapper than 93% of towns.
- Air pollution93/10013.5 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 8.0 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Criminal damage and arson92/10012.0 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires91/10022.8 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Serious road collisions77/1003.3 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour62/10011.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping61/10011.4 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Wolverhampton council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Rain59/100133 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills23/10051.9 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Food hygiene21/1001.4% rated 0 to 2, of the 222 food businesses with a rating
- Broadband6/1002.9% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 1.8% across the Wolverhampton council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Oldbury | 72 |
| 12 | Tipton | 72 |
| 13 | Darlaston | 71 |
| 14 | Smethwick | 70 |
| 15 | Bilston | 68 |
| 16 | Pelsall | 65 |
| 17 | Wolverhampton | 58 |
| 18 | Coventry | 57 |
| 19 | Brierley Hill | 56 |
Bilston by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 127 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 1.7x the typical town's 76.2
- 10 problems reported on FixMyStreet in the year to October 2026 Better: 2.9 per 10,000 people, 86% lower than the typical town's 20.4
- 8 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 13 pubs, 1 hairdresser on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 2.6% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 39) Better: 35% lower than the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.9 per 10,000 people, 44% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open; 2 closed for good since 2010 Worse: 0.6 per 10,000 people, 14% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
- 2 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.32am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 80% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 25.5% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 1.6x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,444 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 6% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Wolverhampton council
Have a crap-off
Bilston 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.