Crap Towns / South Glamorgan / Cardiff
Cardiff
63/100Crap Score
Locals say Kairdiff.
369th crappest of 984 towns, and the crappest in South Glamorgan. 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
Who's nicked the recycling sacks?
Castle, arcades, a stadium in the middle of town. And a street named after food poisoning.
Cardiff has a castle, some lovely arcades and a stadium right in the middle. It also has Caroline Street, which everyone calls Salmonella Street, and the city's hygiene ratings say they've got a point.
Delivery bikes go flat out through the shopping streets and the bins overflow. Your own bike's gone, with bike theft at over five times the typical town's rate, and shoplifting is running at over twice. The banks have announced 12 branch closures, and even the air's over the health guideline for nitrogen dioxide. Still beats Swansea, they'll tell you.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Cardiff's 84 for food hygiene means it's crapper than 84% of towns.
- Food hygiene84/1004.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 2,198 food businesses with a rating
- Rain79/100154 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Criminal damage and arson76/1009.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping76/10017.1 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Cardiff council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Air pollution58/10012.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.9 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Anti-social behaviour57/10016.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires50/100
- Sewage spills46/100239 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Broadband30/1005.4% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 5.6% across the Cardiff council area
- Serious road collisions5/1001.1 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cardiff | 63 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.2 | Barry | 15 |
| 3 | Penarth | 8 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Cardiff 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
- 264 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 7.6 per 10,000 people, 2.2x the typical town's 3.4
- Excellent Llanishen Reservoir's bathing water rating, 2025
What's left on the high street
- 146 pubs, 213 hairdressers, 38 charity shops, 32 bookmakers, 16 vape shops, 27 banks, 30 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 6.9% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (16 of 231) Worse: 1.7x the typical town's 4.0%
- 12 bank branch closures announced since 2022 About the same: 3.4 per 100,000 people, about the same as the typical town's 3.4
- 35 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.0 per 10,000 people, 38% lower than the typical town's 1.6
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.38am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2.8x the typical town's 0.5%
- 15.8% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space About the same: About the same as the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,601 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Cardiff council
Have a crap-off
Cardiff 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.