Crap Towns / Derbyshire / Buxton
Buxton
42/100Crap Score
Known as Nutbox.
572nd crappest of 984 towns, and 12th in Derbyshire. 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 Buxton? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Snowed in again, is it?
Warm water comes out of the ground. Nothing else here is warm.
Buxton has thermal springs, an opera house and the Crescent, and it'll still freeze your bollocks off. Any snow in the county and Nutbox is cut off first. It's miles from a motorway and it's run for the tourists.
It rains on 171 days a year, and 1,337 mm of the stuff comes down, nearly twice the typical town's. The sun manages 1,372 hours, when it can be bothered. There are plenty of public toilets, which, with that much water about, seems only fair. Bring a coat. Then bring another coat. Then go somewhere warmer.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Buxton's 93 for rain means it's crapper than 93% of towns.
- Rain93/100171 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Broadband78/10013.1% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 14.7% across the High Peak council area
- Serious road collisions70/1003.0 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson67/1008.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour57/10016.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills49/100263 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Air pollution27/1005.8 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.5 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Deliberate fires23/1003.7 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Food hygiene17/1001.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 179 food businesses with a rating
- Fly-tipping6/1004.1 incidents per 1,000 people a year, High Peak council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | South Normanton and Pinxton | 50 |
| 9 | Ripley | 47 |
| 10 | Somercotes and Swanwick | 47 |
| 11 | Ilkeston | 43 |
| 12 | Buxton | 42 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.13 | Hadfield | 36 |
| 14 | Long Eaton | 33 |
| 15 | Brimington | 22 |
| 16 | Glossop | 16 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Buxton by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 88.8 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 17% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 3 reports of abandoned vehicles on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 1.5 per 10,000 people, 1.7x the typical town's 0.9
- 1 serious pollution incident within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2018
What's left on the high street
- 18 pubs, 8 hairdressers, 10 charity shops, 1 bookmaker, 2 vape shops, 3 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 21) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 10.0 per 100,000 people, 2.9x the typical town's 3.4
- 12 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 6.0 per 10,000 people, 3.8x the typical town's 1.6
- 3 public swimming pools open Better: 1.5 per 10,000 people, 2.1x the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.18am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 20% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 14.1% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 9% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,372 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 10% lower than the typical town's 1,532
High Peak council
- £2,385 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £7 less than the English average
- 15% of Derbyshire County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 6% lower than England's 16%
- None ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Buxton 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.