Crap Towns / Surrey / Egham
Egham
67/100Crap Score
327th crappest of 984 towns, and 8th in Surrey. 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 Egham? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
The barrier's down. Again.
Magna Carta was sealed down the road. The level crossing's been down ever since.
Egham's claim to fame is Magna Carta, sealed down the road at Runnymede in 1215. Since then it's mostly sat at the level crossing waiting for the barriers. Heathrow planes go over all day and the roads are worse than most for bad crashes. The High Street's charity shops and restaurants. Wow.
Between the planes and the queue at the barriers, the air's got 1.6 times the typical town's nitrogen dioxide in it. The pubs charge London prices and there's not much choice of them, so the students drink at home and park outside yours.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Egham's 91 for air pollution means it's crapper than 91% of towns.
- Air pollution91/10013.5 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.6 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Serious road collisions87/1003.7 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Broadband77/10012.7% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 14.2% across the Runnymede council area
- Fly-tipping68/10014.4 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Runnymede council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Food hygiene66/1003.5% rated 0 to 2, of the 142 food businesses with a rating
- Sewage spills65/100
- Anti-social behaviour31/10012.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Criminal damage and arson22/1005.0 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires19/100
- Rain13/100115 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Leatherhead | 79 |
| 5 | Byfleet | 78 |
| 6 | Chertsey | 72 |
| 7 | Addlestone | 67 |
| 8 | Egham | 67 |
| 9 | Reigate | 67 |
| 10 | Woking | 60 |
| 11 | Walton-on-Thames | 59 |
| 12 | Oxted | 57 |
Egham by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 69.8 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 8% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 913 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 326 per 10,000 people, 95.9x the typical town's 3.4
- 4 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2022
What's left on the high street
- 14 pubs, 16 hairdressers, 4 charity shops, 3 bookmakers, 3 vape shops, 1 bank, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 16) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 3.6 per 100,000 people, 6% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 17 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 6.1 per 10,000 people, 3.8x the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open About the same: 0.7 per 10,000 people, about the same as the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.26am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.2% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 60% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 28.6% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 1.8x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,691 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 10% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Runnymede council
Have a crap-off
Egham 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.