Crap Towns / West Midlands / Coventry
Coventry
57/100Crap Score
425th crappest of 984 towns, and 18th in the West Midlands. 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 Coventry? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Cov. Get off the ring road.
They used to make cars here. Now you just drive round the ring road in one.
Coventry used to make cars, bikes and ribbons. Now it's got a ring road that locals swear is brilliant and visitors go round till they cry. It cuts the centre off from everything, which might have been the idea.
Cars and bikes are still big round here, mostly for nicking. Vehicle crime and bike theft are both well above the typical town, and so are burglary, robbery and people carrying blades. The air's over the health guidelines on both counts, 10 public pools have shut since 2010, and the council logged 7,188 fly-tips in a year without prosecuting anybody.
They filmed the sewer scenes for The Italian Job here, and bits of the city still look like it. The Sky Blues reckon Villa are their big rivals. Villa haven't noticed.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Coventry's 85 for air pollution means it's crapper than 85% of towns.
- Air pollution85/10011.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.5 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Fly-tipping81/10019.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Coventry council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Deliberate fires71/1009.5 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Criminal damage and arson68/1008.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene67/1003.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 1,637 food businesses with a rating
- Serious road collisions45/1002.3 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour41/1009.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain36/100122 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills24/10059.6 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Broadband5/1002.3% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 2.3% across the Coventry council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | Smethwick | 70 |
| 15 | Bilston | 68 |
| 16 | Pelsall | 65 |
| 17 | Wolverhampton | 58 |
| 18 | Coventry | 57 |
| 19 | Brierley Hill | 56 |
| 20 | Rowley Regis | 41 |
| 21 | Stourbridge | 41 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.22 | Royal Sutton Coldfield | 36 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Coventry by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 102 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 34% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 1,005 reports of fly-tipping on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 29.2 per 10,000 people, 26.5x the typical town's 1.1
- 11 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 135 pubs, 141 hairdressers, 28 charity shops, 21 bookmakers, 5 vape shops, 31 banks, 16 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 4.4% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (12 of 270) Worse: 10% higher than the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Better: 0.6 per 100,000 people, 82% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 41 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.2 per 10,000 people, 25% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 20 public swimming pools open; 10 closed for good since 2010 Worse: 0.6 per 10,000 people, 14% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
- 8 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
- 0.5% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 0.5%
- 29.7% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 1.9x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,528 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Coventry council
Have a crap-off
Coventry 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.