Crap Towns / West Glamorgan / Neath
Neath
40/100Crap Score
590th crappest of 984 towns, and 3rd in West Glamorgan. 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
Great market. Shutters either side.
Proper rugby, a good market and a town centre falling to bits round them.
Neath has the Gnoll, the rugby and a decent indoor market. The rest of the town centre is empty shops and buildings falling apart. Marks and Spencer left. People moan about drug dealing in the centre.
You get rain on 175 days a year. 13.7% of the takeaways get 0 to 2 from the hygiene inspectors, over three times the typical town's share, so eat at home. The council wants £2,541 for a Band D home, well above the Welsh average, and there's barely a public toilet on the map. Aberavon fans think it's hilarious.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Neath's 96 for rain means it's crapper than 96% of towns.
- Rain96/100175 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Food hygiene88/1005.5% rated 0 to 2, of the 310 food businesses with a rating
- Sewage spills88/1001,315 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Broadband52/1004.3% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 16.8% across the Neath Port Talbot council area
- Deliberate fires50/100
- Anti-social behaviour42/10014.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Criminal damage and arson38/1006.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution17/1006.6 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 4.9 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Fly-tipping15/1005.6 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Neath Port Talbot council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Serious road collisions4/1001.0 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Port Talbot | 53 |
| 2 | Swansea | 46 |
| 3 | Neath | 40 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.4 | Baglan | 32 |
| 5 | Gorseinon | 25 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Neath by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 73.7 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 76.2
- 19 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 4.7 per 10,000 people, 38% higher than the typical town's 3.4
What's left on the high street
- 16 pubs, 5 hairdressers, 1 vape shop, 6 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 13.7% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (7 of 51) Worse: 3.4x the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 4.9 per 100,000 people, 44% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 2 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.5 per 10,000 people, 69% lower than the typical town's 1.6
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.22pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 20% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 16.7% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 8% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,476 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Neath Port Talbot council
Have a crap-off
Neath 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.