Crap Towns / Worcestershire / Kidderminster
Kidderminster
47/100Crap Score
524th crappest of 984 towns, and 2nd in Worcestershire. 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
You'll be done by lunch
Kiddy made carpets. Now there's a carpet museum, and that's your sightseeing done.
Kidderminster made carpets for the whole country, then opened a museum about it, and that's your day out. The steam trains are good. The town centre's run down, the Green Street conservation area has made the Heritage at Risk list, and the shop that stands out per head is Greggs. It's the crappest town in Worcestershire, which takes some doing with Redditch in the same county.
There's bugger all to do of an evening, and no way home from it either. The buses stop at 9.43pm on a Wednesday, and on a Sunday there are 91% fewer buses per head than in the typical town. Halesowen fans wind up the Harriers. They don't need much material.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Kidderminster's 69 for criminal damage and arson means it's crapper than 69% of towns.
- Criminal damage and arson69/1008.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour66/10017.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires55/1006.2 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Food hygiene54/1002.6% rated 0 to 2, of the 228 food businesses with a rating
- Serious road collisions54/1002.5 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Broadband50/1006.6% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 11.9% across the Wyre Forest council area
- Air pollution45/1007.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.6 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Rain38/100123 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Fly-tipping29/1007.4 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Wyre Forest council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Sewage spills26/10069.4 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evesham | 47 |
| 2 | Kidderminster | 47 |
| 3 | Stourport-on-Severn | 40 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.4 | Redditch | 35 |
| 5 | Worcester | 29 |
| 6 | Great Malvern | 27 |
| 7 | Bromsgrove | 26 |
| 8 | Catshill | 19 |
| 9 | Droitwich Spa | 2 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Kidderminster by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 91.6 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 20% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 8 reports of litter and bins on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 1.4 per 10,000 people, 1.6x the typical town's 0.9
- 3 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2023
What's left on the high street
- 30 pubs, 29 hairdressers, 8 charity shops, 5 bookmakers, 1 vape shop, 6 banks, 3 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 7.6% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (4 of 53) Worse: 1.9x the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 About the same: 3.5 per 100,000 people, about the same as the typical town's 3.4
- 8 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.4 per 10,000 people, 13% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 6 public swimming pools open; 1 closed for good since 2010 Better: 1.0 per 10,000 people, 43% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
- 1 place on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 9.43pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 80% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 26.0% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 1.7x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,543 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Wyre Forest council
- £2,512 Band D council tax (2026-27) Worse: £120 more than the English average
- 18% of Worcestershire County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 13% higher than England's 16%
- None ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Kidderminster 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.