Crap Towns / Devon / Okehampton
Okehampton
15/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 15. 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
It's on the way.
A ruined castle, an army camp up the hill and a very wet walk to either.
Okehampton is the town you drive through to get to Dartmoor, and it does that well enough. A ruined castle, a lot of charity shops and an army camp up the hill. The station's a slog uphill and they've been promising a new road for years.
It's wet on 170 days a year, which is what Gateway to Dartmoor means. There's no bus after 8.12pm, and West Devon charges £2,705 for a Band D home. It's alright, to be fair. Just alright.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Okehampton's 91 for rain means it's crapper than 91% of towns.
- Rain91/100170 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Broadband90/10010.8% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 35.8% across the West Devon council area
- Sewage spills50/100278 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson45/1006.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires43/1005.4 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Anti-social behaviour29/10011.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene21/1000.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 48 food businesses with a rating
- Fly-tipping18/1005.9 incidents per 1,000 people a year, West Devon council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Serious road collisions7/1000.9 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Air pollution4/1003.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.0 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Dawlish | 31 |
| 11 | Tavistock | 27 |
| 12 | Kingsteignton | 26 |
| 13 | Teignmouth | 24 |
| 14 | Brixham | 23 |
| 15 | Ivybridge | 18 |
| – | Okehampton | 15 |
| 16 | Exmouth | 12 |
| 17 | Sidmouth | 5 |
Okehampton by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 62.2 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 18% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 2 problems reported on FixMyStreet in the year to October 2026 Better: 2.2 per 10,000 people, 89% lower than the typical town's 20.4
- 1 serious pollution incident within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2019
What's left on the high street
- 6 pubs, 4 hairdressers, 3 charity shops, 1 bank on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 11.0 per 100,000 people, 3.2x the typical town's 3.4
- 3 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 3.3 per 10,000 people, 2.1x the typical town's 1.6
- 1 public swimming pool open Better: 1.1 per 10,000 people, 1.6x the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 8.12pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2.8x the typical town's 0.5%
- 13.6% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 12% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,479 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
West Devon council
Have a crap-off
Okehampton 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.