Crap Towns / Powys / Newtown
Newtown
76/100Crap Score
233rd crappest of 984 towns. It's the crappest town in the table for Powys because it's the only one big enough to be in it. 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 Newtown? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Not new. Not much of a town.
Helped invent mail-order shopping. Then everyone stopped coming to the shops. Funny that.
Newtown made flannel and helped invent shopping by post, and the high street has been paying for it ever since. Empty shops, bookies, Greggs and pubs, parking that costs you, and bins overflowing every weekend.
Crime runs at twice the typical town's rate and criminal damage at over twice, and it's going up. Drugs and weapons offences are both around three times the typical town's. For a market town in the middle of Powys, that takes some effort. It isn't new, and it isn't much of a town centre either.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Newtown's 97 for criminal damage and arson means it's crapper than 97% of towns.
- Criminal damage and arson97/10015.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband93/10013.5% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 37.9% across the Powys council area
- Anti-social behaviour87/10016.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions82/1003.7 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Rain79/100155 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Food hygiene62/1003.3% rated 0 to 2, of the 121 food businesses with a rating
- Sewage spills58/100388 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2024 to 2025
- Deliberate fires50/100
- Air pollution5/1004.5 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 4.7 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Fly-tipping3/1003.3 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Powys council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newtown | 76 |
Newtown by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 149 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 2x the typical town's 76.2
- 22 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 20.2 per 10,000 people, 5.9x the typical town's 3.4
What's left on the high street
- 11 pubs, 3 hairdressers, 2 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 6 banks, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 15.4% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (2 of 13) Worse: 3.9x the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 18.4 per 100,000 people, 5.4x the typical town's 3.4
- 2 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 1.8 per 10,000 people, 13% higher than the typical town's 1.6
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 10.08pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.7% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 3.4x the typical town's 0.5%
- 26.5% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 1.7x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,346 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 12% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Powys council
Have a crap-off
Newtown 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.