Crap Towns / Norfolk / King's Lynn
King's Lynn
80/100Crap Score
Known as Lynn. Locals are Lynners.
195th crappest of 984 towns, and 3rd in Norfolk. 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
King's Lynn. Stuck behind a caravan.
Fine old port, lovely Custom House, and every caravan in England heading through it to the coast.
King's Lynn has a gorgeous old waterfront and a Custom House to prove it used to matter. Now the town centre's dead, the rush hour is awful, and every summer every caravan in England comes through on the way to the coast. Serious crashes run at 1.5 times the typical town.
What's left in the centre is hairdressers and vape shops, with 3.7 times the typical town's vape shops per head. The vandals are busier than most, and gigabit broadband reaches only 79.2% of the place, so staying in isn't much better. Still, it isn't Boston.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
King's Lynn's 96 for broadband means it's crapper than 96% of towns.
- Broadband96/10020.8% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 34.7% across the King's Lynn and West Norfolk council area
- Serious road collisions85/1003.6 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson84/10010.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires72/1009.8 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Air pollution61/1007.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.3 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Fly-tipping61/10011.6 incidents per 1,000 people a year, King's Lynn and West Norfolk council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Food hygiene57/1002.8% rated 0 to 2, of the 325 food businesses with a rating
- Sewage spills56/100348 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour38/10013.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain34/100122 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Yarmouth | 100 |
| 2 | Norwich | 84 |
| 3 | King's Lynn | 80 |
| 4 | Gorleston-on-Sea | 65 |
| 5 | Thetford | 49 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.6 | Dereham | 35 |
| 7 | Downham Market | 33 |
| 8 | Bradwell | 33 |
| 9 | Wymondham | 18 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
King's Lynn by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 106 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 39% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 9 reports of broken street lights on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 1.9 per 10,000 people, 2.7x the typical town's 0.7
- 8 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 24 pubs, 51 hairdressers, 10 charity shops, 4 bookmakers, 5 vape shops, 9 banks, 3 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 4.2% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (2 of 48) Worse: 5% higher than the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Better: 2.1 per 100,000 people, 38% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 9 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 1.9 per 10,000 people, 19% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 4 public swimming pools open Better: 0.8 per 10,000 people, 14% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
- 6 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- midnight last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.3% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2.6x the typical town's 0.5%
- 11.2% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 28% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,507 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
King's Lynn and West Norfolk council
- £2,430 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £38 more than the English average
- 8% of Norfolk County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 50% lower than England's 16%
- None ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
King's Lynn 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.