Crap Towns / Northamptonshire / Corby
Corby
52/100Crap Score
472nd crappest of 984 towns, and 5th in Northamptonshire. 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
Corby. Like the trouser press.
The steelworks shut, the bookies opened, and the buses still don't turn up.
Corby used to be a steel town. Then the steelworks shut, and now everyone just thinks of a trouser press. The town centre's empty shops, overflowing bins and bookies, with twice the typical town's bookies per head. They built the council a shiny Cube to sit in, though, so that's nice.
It's got parks coming out of its ears, nearly everyone lives a short walk from one, and some knobhead keeps setting fire to them. Fires get started on purpose at twice the typical town's rate, mostly grass and woods. There's barely a public loo in the place either, so the parks get that as well. Kettering fans say Corby's a shithole. Kettering scores crapper. Have that.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Corby's 79 for deliberate fires means it's crapper than 79% of towns.
- Deliberate fires79/10012.0 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Anti-social behaviour73/10019.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene62/1003.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 296 food businesses with a rating
- Fly-tipping62/10011.8 incidents per 1,000 people a year, North Northamptonshire council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Air pollution55/1007.8 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Criminal damage and arson50/1007.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills36/100133 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Serious road collisions29/1001.9 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Broadband25/1005.1% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 4.7% across the North Northamptonshire council area
- Rain24/100119 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northampton | 82 |
| 2 | Daventry | 75 |
| 3 | Wellingborough | 74 |
| 4 | Kettering | 54 |
| 5 | Corby | 52 |
| 6 | Rushden | 47 |
| 7 | Raunds | 43 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.8 | Burton Latimer | 34 |
| 9 | Towcester | 31 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Corby by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 81.7 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 7% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 1,489 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 218 per 10,000 people, 64.1x the typical town's 3.4
- 10 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 21 pubs, 31 hairdressers, 4 charity shops, 10 bookmakers, 3 vape shops, 4 banks, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 4.7% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (2 of 43) Worse: 18% higher than the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 4.4 per 100,000 people, 29% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 4 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.6 per 10,000 people, 63% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 4 public swimming pools open Worse: 0.6 per 10,000 people, 14% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 1.02am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.5% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 0.5%
- 3.9% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 75% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,529 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
North Northamptonshire council
- £2,424 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £32 more than the English average
- 8% of North Northamptonshire council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 50% lower than England's 16%
- 25 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Corby 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.