Crap Towns / West Yorkshire / Mirfield
Mirfield
81/100Crap Score
189th crappest of 984 towns, and 17th in West Yorkshire. 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 Mirfield? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Mirfield. Sit in traffic.
Canal walks, an agricultural show and a commute that's going nowhere.
Mirfield has a canal and an agricultural show and not much else to be proud of. Cooper Bridge is a car park every morning, Sunny Bank Road is a racetrack and Station Road is clogged with parked cars. The buses are vanishing and the houses keep coming.
Serious crashes run well over the typical town's rate. The storm overflows nearby go off for four and a half times the typical town's hours, and the sun manages 1,379 hours a year. Kirklees recycles 27% of the rubbish, in the Heavy Woollen District, where reusing old wool was the whole bloody trade. Halifax has gone, and there's no swimming pool.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Mirfield's 87 for serious road collisions means it's crapper than 87% of towns.
- Serious road collisions87/1003.8 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Sewage spills87/1001,237 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Fly-tipping82/10019.7 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Kirklees council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Deliberate fires76/10011.2 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Air pollution76/10011.3 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Rain63/100135 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Anti-social behaviour45/1009.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene40/1001.9% rated 0 to 2, of the 105 food businesses with a rating
- Criminal damage and arson37/1006.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband14/1002.8% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 4.8% across the Kirklees council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | Cleckheaton | 90 |
| 14 | Leeds | 89 |
| 15 | Castleford | 88 |
| 16 | Baildon | 84 |
| 17 | Mirfield | 81 |
| 18 | Bingley | 80 |
| 19 | Liversedge | 80 |
| 20 | Gomersal and Birkenshaw | 79 |
| 21 | Pudsey | 72 |
Mirfield by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 67.3 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 12% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 1 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 0.5 per 10,000 people, 85% lower than the typical town's 3.4
What's left on the high street
- 13 pubs, 8 hairdressers, 4 charity shops, 2 bookmakers on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 18) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 5.1 per 100,000 people, 1.5x the typical town's 3.4
- 2 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.0 per 10,000 people, 38% 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
- 1 place on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.39pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.8% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 1.6x the typical town's 0.5%
- 14.2% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 8% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,379 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 10% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Kirklees council
- £2,441 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £49 more than the English average
- 22% of Kirklees council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 38% higher than England's 16%
- 22 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Mirfield 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.