Crap Towns / West Sussex / Crawley
Crawley
67/100Crap Score
Known as Creepy Crawley.
328th crappest of 984 towns, and 3rd in West Sussex. 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
Lovely paving. Nothing to walk to.
New town gone old. Empty shops, vape shops, and some very nice new paving to look at.
Crawley was built as a shiny new town and has been going downhill ever since. The centre is empty shops, vape shops, barbers and takeaways, the Broadway looks shabby, and the council's answer was fancy new paving in Queens Square. Gatwick is right next door, which helps. You can leave.
It's got less than half the typical town's pubs per head, and people get done for carrying weapons at over twice the typical town's rate, so maybe that's for the best. The fly-tippers are busy, and the Environment Agency has logged 15 serious pollution incidents in or round the town since 2016. The buses run till 1.41am. Even they're heading for the airport.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Crawley's 87 for serious road collisions means it's crapper than 87% of towns.
- Serious road collisions87/1003.6 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Fly-tipping81/10015.9 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Crawley council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Air pollution69/1009.8 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Anti-social behaviour65/10017.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Criminal damage and arson54/1007.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband53/1008.5% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 8.9% across the Crawley council area
- Rain48/100127 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Deliberate fires45/100
- Sewage spills22/10049.3 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Food hygiene17/1001.4% rated 0 to 2, of the 486 food businesses with a rating
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Littlehampton | 85 |
| 2 | Chichester | 82 |
| 3 | Crawley | 67 |
| 4 | Wick | 61 |
| 5 | Shoreham-by-Sea | 61 |
| 6 | Barnham | 60 |
| 7 | Southwick | 55 |
| 8 | Bognor Regis | 53 |
| 9 | East Grinstead | 45 |
Crawley by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 96.2 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 26% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 132 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 10.9 per 10,000 people, 3.2x the typical town's 3.4
- 15 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 25 pubs, 26 hairdressers, 4 charity shops, 10 bookmakers, 2 vape shops, 9 banks, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1.6% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 61) Better: 60% lower than the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Better: 0.8 per 100,000 people, 76% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 49 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 4.1 per 10,000 people, 2.6x the typical town's 1.6
- 6 public swimming pools open; 2 closed for good since 2010 Worse: 0.5 per 10,000 people, 29% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 1.41am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2.2x the typical town's 0.5%
- 13.9% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 10% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,658 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 8% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Crawley council
- £2,418 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £26 more than the English average
- 19% of West Sussex County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 19% higher than England's 16%
- None ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Crawley 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.