Crap Towns / Greater London / Croydon
Croydon
91/100Crap Score
94th crappest of 984 towns, and 10th in Greater London. 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
Everyone's passed through. Nobody stops.
The council went skint, and the shopping centre it was promised has been coming for so long it's a local joke.
Croydon calls itself the Cronx, which tells you how it sees itself. The council went bust, the Westfield never turned up and the old shopping centre sits there half dead. Purley and the leafy bits down south would like it known they're nothing like this.
The council's skint and still wants £2,600 for a Band D. For that you get fly-tipping at nearly nine times the typical council's rate, 53,268 dumps in one year, and side streets where nearly half want looking at. 4 libraries went in 2024 and 10 pools have shut for good since 2010. The kitchens fail at two and a half times the typical town's rate. Brilliant trains out, mind. Locals will tell you that's the best thing about it.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Croydon's 99 for fly-tipping means it's crapper than 99% of towns.
- Fly-tipping99/10095.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Croydon council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Air pollution96/10014.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 8.4 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Food hygiene94/1006.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 2,275 food businesses with a rating
- Serious road collisions91/1004.0 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour82/10022.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband62/10010.1% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 10.1% across the Croydon council area
- Criminal damage and arson46/1006.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires31/100
- Rain25/100119 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills5/1000.8 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Haringey | 92 |
| 7 | Hackney | 92 |
| 8 | Brent | 91 |
| 9 | Hillingdon | 91 |
| 10 | Croydon | 91 |
| 11 | Ealing | 90 |
| 12 | Newham | 90 |
| 13 | Southwark | 89 |
| 14 | Hammersmith and Fulham | 89 |
Croydon by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 88.2 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 16% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 353 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 9.0 per 10,000 people, 2.6x the typical town's 3.4
- 5 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 77 pubs, 177 hairdressers, 34 charity shops, 40 bookmakers, 13 vape shops, 17 banks, 7 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 8.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (32 of 402) Worse: 2x the typical town's 4.0%
- 13 bank branch closures announced since 2022 About the same: 3.3 per 100,000 people, about the same as the typical town's 3.4
- 4 libraries shut for good since 2010: Bradmore Green (2024), Broad Green (2024), Sanderstead (2024) and Shirley (2024)
- 65 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 1.7 per 10,000 people, 6% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 18 public swimming pools open; 10 closed for good since 2010 Worse: 0.5 per 10,000 people, 29% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
- 14 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 1.21am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 2.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 4.8x the typical town's 0.5%
- 28.5% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 1.8x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,573 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Croydon council
Have a crap-off
Croydon 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.