Crap Towns / Lincolnshire / Boston
Boston
94/100Crap Score
People from here are Bostonians.
57th crappest of 984 towns, and the crappest in Lincolnshire. 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 Boston? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Which way's the bridge? Nobody knows.
Boston has a big church, a working windmill and a road system nobody understands.
Boston's got the Stump, a working windmill, a decent market and a road layout that makes no sense to anyone, Bostonians included. Getting over the river takes for ever, and the serious crash rate is nearly twice the typical town's, so it's not just you. When you finally park, it's bookies, 10 of them, and empty shops.
The fly-tippers have the rest. Boston council recorded 4,687 fly-tips in a year, mostly on footpaths and bridleways, and brought no prosecutions. Anti-social behaviour sits at twice the typical town's rate and somebody's always nicking a bike. If you'd rather not drive, good luck: on a Sunday the buses barely bother.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Boston's 98 for fly-tipping means it's crapper than 98% of towns.
- Fly-tipping98/10063.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Boston council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Serious road collisions94/1004.5 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour90/10027.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband80/10011.2% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 20.0% across the Boston council area
- Criminal damage and arson80/1009.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills56/100354 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Food hygiene55/1002.7% rated 0 to 2, of the 339 food businesses with a rating
- Air pollution47/1006.6 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Deliberate fires25/1003.9 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Rain12/100115 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston | 94 |
| 2 | Grimsby | 88 |
| 3 | Gainsborough | 87 |
| 4 | Lincoln | 81 |
| 5 | Skegness | 80 |
| 6 | Scunthorpe | 73 |
| 7 | Louth | 69 |
| 8 | Cleethorpes | 68 |
| 9 | Spalding | 64 |
Boston by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 108 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 42% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 940 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 207 per 10,000 people, 60.9x the typical town's 3.4
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2021
What's left on the high street
- 27 pubs, 38 hairdressers, 10 charity shops, 10 bookmakers, 1 vape shop, 7 banks, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 11.1% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (4 of 36) Worse: 2.8x the typical town's 4.0%
- 4 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 8.8 per 100,000 people, 2.6x the typical town's 3.4
- 15 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 3.3 per 10,000 people, 2.1x the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open Worse: 0.4 per 10,000 people, 43% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
- 3 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 2.44am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.2% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2.4x the typical town's 0.5%
- 14.7% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 5% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,569 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Boston council
- £2,309 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £83 less than the English average
- 21% of Lincolnshire County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 31% higher than England's 16%
- None ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Boston 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.