Crap Towns / Dorset / Bournemouth
Bournemouth
62/100Crap Score
375th crappest of 984 towns, and the crappest in Dorset. 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 Bournemouth? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Lovely sand. Vape shops behind it.
Bomo's got miles of golden beach and a town centre that's been left to rot behind it.
Bournemouth's got a cracking beach and 1,828 hours of sunshine a year. Nobody's arguing. All 10 bathing waters came out Excellent. Turn round, though, and the department stores are empty, the vape shops have moved in and there's bother round the centre most nights, with anti-social behaviour at twice the typical town's rate.
Boscombe paid for a surf reef that didn't make any waves. In summer you can't park, and the driving's shocking, with serious crashes at 1.7 times the typical town's rate. Somebody's nicking all the bikes too. Bournemouth's the crappest town in Dorset, and Poole is loving it. Stay on the sand.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Bournemouth's 92 for anti-social behaviour means it's crapper than 92% of towns.
- Anti-social behaviour92/10028.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions92/1004.1 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson61/1007.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband61/1009.3% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 11.0% across the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area
- Air pollution42/1008.6 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.0 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Deliberate fires40/1005.3 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Rain38/100123 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Fly-tipping37/1008.8 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Sewage spills27/10078.5 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Food hygiene19/1001.6% rated 0 to 2, of the 1,341 food businesses with a rating
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bournemouth | 62 |
| 2 | Poole | 49 |
| 3 | Bridport | 49 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.4 | Weymouth | 37 |
| 5 | Dorchester | 33 |
| 6 | Christchurch | 22 |
| 7 | West Moors | 20 |
| 8 | Sherborne | 19 |
| 9 | Wimborne Minster | 19 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Bournemouth by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 86.3 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 13% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 15 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 0.8 per 10,000 people, 76% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 6 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2024
- 10 of 10 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 41 pubs, 171 hairdressers, 55 charity shops, 20 bookmakers, 12 vape shops, 17 banks, 5 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1.3% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (2 of 152) Better: 68% lower than the typical town's 4.0%
- 7 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 3.6 per 100,000 people, 6% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 31 public toilets on the map (October 2026) About the same: 1.6 per 10,000 people, about the same as the typical town's 1.6
- 22 public swimming pools open; 6 closed for good since 2010 Better: 1.1 per 10,000 people, 1.6x the typical English town's 0.7
- 6 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
- 0.7% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 40% higher than the typical town's 0.5%
- 20.2% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 30% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,828 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 19% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council
- £2,436 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £44 more than the English average
- 1% of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 94% lower than England's 16%
- 20 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Bournemouth 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.