Crap Towns / Devon / Budleigh Salterton
Budleigh Salterton
7/100Crap Score
Locals call it Budders.
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 7. 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 Budleigh Salterton? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Bring change for the loo
The beach is huge pebbles. The parking costs a fortune. Even the loos want paying.
Budleigh Salterton is a quiet, posh bit of Devon with red cliffs and a beach made of massive pebbles. Crime's practically nil. The big moans are parking charges, paying for the loo and dogs off the lead on the prom. And the food hygiene's shite, mind.
There are nearly seven times the typical town's charity shops per head, which is where the cardigans go when their owners do. Budders. Lovely. Quiet. Dead by nine.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Budleigh Salterton's 98 for broadband means it's crapper than 98% of towns.
- Broadband98/10037.3% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 24.8% across the East Devon council area
- Food hygiene78/1007.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 42 food businesses with a rating
- Sewage spills70/100608 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain46/100126 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Deliberate fires10/1001.6 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Serious road collisions9/1000.8 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson5/1003.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution5/1002.9 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Anti-social behaviour2/1005.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping1/1002.5 incidents per 1,000 people a year, East Devon council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Dawlish | 31 |
| 11 | Tavistock | 27 |
| 12 | Kingsteignton | 26 |
| 13 | Teignmouth | 24 |
| 14 | Brixham | 23 |
| 15 | Ivybridge | 18 |
| 16 | Exmouth | 12 |
| – | Budleigh Salterton | 7 |
| 17 | Sidmouth | 5 |
Budleigh Salterton by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 24.6 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 68% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 2 reports of fly-tipping on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 3.8 per 10,000 people, 3.5x the typical town's 1.1
- Good Budleigh Salterton's bathing water rating, 2025
What's left on the high street
- 3 pubs, 4 hairdressers, 5 charity shops on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 3 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 5.7 per 10,000 people, 3.6x the typical town's 1.6
- None public swimming pools open Worse: Against the typical English town's 0.7 per 10,000 people
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.12pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier 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%
- 14.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 7% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,718 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 12% higher than the typical town's 1,532
East Devon council
Have a crap-off
Budleigh Salterton 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.