Crap Towns / Suffolk / Kesgrave
Kesgrave
0/100Crap Score
980th crappest of 984 towns, and 10th in Suffolk. 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
Kesgrave. Definitely not Ipswich.
Tesco put up a sign calling it Ipswich and had to apologise. That's as heated as Kesgrave gets.
Kesgrave is a big modern estate on the edge of Ipswich with cycle paths, its own bus route and almost no crime: 21.5 crimes per 1,000 people a year, against 76.2 in the typical town. The worst thing that ever happened was Tesco calling it Ipswich, and they had to say sorry.
There are 2 pubs, 1 public loo and no swimming pool, so there's not a lot to do but cycle about feeling safe. Whatever you do, don't call it Ipswich.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Kesgrave's 63 for air pollution means it's crapper than 63% of towns.
- Air pollution63/1008.4 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.2 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Food hygiene54/1003.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 32 food businesses with a rating
- Broadband34/1001.7% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 14.6% across the East Suffolk council area
- Fly-tipping30/1007.6 incidents per 1,000 people a year, East Suffolk council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Rain15/100116 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Serious road collisions4/1000.8 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Sewage spills2/1000.0 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Deliberate fires2/1001.4 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Criminal damage and arson0/1002.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour0/1002.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lowestoft | 40 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.2 | Sudbury | 30 |
| 3 | Ipswich | 15 |
| 4 | Haverhill | 11 |
| 5 | Newmarket | 9 |
| 6 | Stowmarket | 7 |
| 7 | Felixstowe | 6 |
| 8 | Woodbridge | 4 |
| 9 | Bury St Edmunds | 3 |
| 10 | Kesgrave | 0 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Kesgrave by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 21.5 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 72% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 6 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 4.0 per 10,000 people, 18% higher than the typical town's 3.4
What's left on the high street
- 2 pubs, 4 hairdressers, 1 charity shop on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.7 per 10,000 people, 56% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- None public swimming pools open Worse: Against the typical English town's 0.7 per 10,000 people
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.14pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.3% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 40% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 7.0% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 55% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,701 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 11% higher than the typical town's 1,532
East Suffolk council
- £2,335 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £57 less than the English average
- 22% of Suffolk County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 38% higher than England's 16%
- 1 ombudsman complaint upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Kesgrave 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.