Crap Towns / Devon / Exeter
Exeter
45/100Crap Score
545th crappest of 984 towns, and 6th in Devon. 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 Exeter? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
You'll be here a while.
Nice old city. You'll mostly see it from the queue at Countess Wear.
Exeter has a lovely quay, medieval tunnels under the streets and roads that grind to a halt every day. Exe Bridges and Countess Wear are car parks and the bus tracker lies through its teeth.
521 premises can't even get the legal minimum broadband, in a city with a university. Bikes get nicked at over three times the typical town's rate, and 7 places are on the Heritage at Risk list, so the old bits are going too. It's not awful. It's Exeter. Plymouth is worse, and Exeter never shuts up about it.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Exeter's 74 for anti-social behaviour means it's crapper than 74% of towns.
- Anti-social behaviour74/10019.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Criminal damage and arson72/1008.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband60/1009.7% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 9.6% across the Exeter council area
- Serious road collisions60/1002.7 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Rain56/100131 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Fly-tipping42/1008.1 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Exeter council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Sewage spills37/100146 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Deliberate fires26/1004.1 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Air pollution20/1006.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.5 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Food hygiene11/1001.4% rated 0 to 2, of the 786 food businesses with a rating
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Torquay | 84 |
| 3 | Barnstaple | 69 |
| 4 | Tiverton | 69 |
| 5 | Paignton | 53 |
| 6 | Exeter | 45 |
| 7 | Bideford | 42 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.8 | Newton Abbot | 39 |
| 9 | Honiton | 37 |
| 10 | Dawlish | 31 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Exeter by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 98.0 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 29% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 11 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 0.9 per 10,000 people, 74% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 11 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 58 pubs, 76 hairdressers, 28 charity shops, 7 bookmakers, 5 vape shops, 11 banks, 8 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1.3% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 78) Better: 68% 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
- 24 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 1.9 per 10,000 people, 19% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 12 public swimming pools open; 4 closed for good since 2010 Better: 1.0 per 10,000 people, 43% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
- 7 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.53am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 2.3% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 4.6x the typical town's 0.5%
- 10.7% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 31% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,585 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Exeter council
Have a crap-off
Exeter 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.