Crap Towns / Devon / Ivybridge
Ivybridge
18/100Crap Score
803rd crappest of 984 towns, and 15th 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 Ivybridge? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Look, ivy. On a bridge.
A bridge with ivy on it. That's the whole name and most of the attraction.
Ivybridge is named after a bridge with ivy on it, and that's the highlight. It scores annoyingly well, which mostly means nothing happens. Lads rev their cars and the old paper mill is rotting.
It pisses down on 166 days a year, getting on for twice the typical town's rainfall, and the storm drains chuck out sewage for nearly seven times as long as the typical town's, so the Erme's having a rough time of it. Dartmoor's on the doorstep. Most people go there.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Ivybridge's 92 for sewage spills means it's crapper than 92% of towns.
- Sewage spills92/1001,832 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Broadband89/1007.1% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 41.3% across the South Hams council area
- Rain89/100166 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Food hygiene49/1002.4% rated 0 to 2, of the 42 food businesses with a rating
- Fly-tipping24/1007.0 incidents per 1,000 people a year, South Hams council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Criminal damage and arson23/1005.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires12/1002.5 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Air pollution9/1004.4 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.2 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Anti-social behaviour8/1007.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions4/1000.8 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Honiton | 37 |
| 10 | Dawlish | 31 |
| 11 | Tavistock | 27 |
| 12 | Kingsteignton | 26 |
| 13 | Teignmouth | 24 |
| 14 | Brixham | 23 |
| 15 | Ivybridge | 18 |
| 16 | Exmouth | 12 |
| 17 | Sidmouth | 5 |
Ivybridge by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 43.5 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 43% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 4 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 3.2 per 10,000 people, 6% lower than the typical town's 3.4
What's left on the high street
- 5 pubs, 3 hairdressers, 3 charity shops, 2 banks on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 8.0 per 100,000 people, 2.4x the typical town's 3.4
- 2 public toilets on the map (October 2026) About the same: 1.6 per 10,000 people, about the same as the typical town's 1.6
- 3 public swimming pools open; 1 closed for good since 2010 Better: 2.4 per 10,000 people, 3.4x the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 10.33pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.0% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2x the typical town's 0.5%
- 2.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 85% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,536 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
South Hams council
Have a crap-off
Ivybridge 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.