Crap Towns / Devon / Paignton
Paignton
53/100Crap Score
466th crappest of 984 towns, and 5th in Devon. 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 Paignton? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Who painted the road blue?
Beach, pier and steam trains in summer. A tired town centre and a blue road the rest of the year.
Paignton is rammed in summer and dead the rest of the year. The pier and beach are fine. The town centre is tired, and somebody painted Torbay Road blue so it looks like a swimming pool.
12.2% of the takeaways score 0 to 2 for hygiene, three times the typical town's share, so watch the chips. Oldway Mansion and the old Torbay Cinema are both on the Heritage at Risk list, and Torbay's got twice England's share of homes stood empty. Locals are called pudden eaters after a giant pudding. Safer than the chips.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Paignton's 81 for food hygiene means it's crapper than 81% of towns.
- Food hygiene81/1004.4% rated 0 to 2, of the 319 food businesses with a rating
- Rain66/100139 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Serious road collisions64/1002.8 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson59/1007.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband58/1008.0% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 12.2% across the Torbay council area
- Sewage spills53/100313 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour45/10014.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping33/1008.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Torbay council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Deliberate fires29/1004.3 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Air pollution12/1004.9 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.4 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plymouth | 86 |
| 2 | Torquay | 84 |
| 3 | Barnstaple | 69 |
| 4 | Tiverton | 69 |
| 5 | Paignton | 53 |
| 6 | Exeter | 45 |
| 7 | Bideford | 42 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.8 | Newton Abbot | 39 |
| 9 | Honiton | 37 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Paignton by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 78.8 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
- 16 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 2.4 per 10,000 people, 29% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 4 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2024
- 5 of 7 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 25 pubs, 31 hairdressers, 12 charity shops, 3 bookmakers, 2 vape shops, 6 banks, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 12.2% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (6 of 49) Worse: 3.1x the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 4.4 per 100,000 people, 29% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 21 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 3.1 per 10,000 people, 1.9x the typical town's 1.6
- 10 public swimming pools open Better: 1.5 per 10,000 people, 2.1x the typical English town's 0.7
- 6 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.33am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later 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%
- 10.1% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 35% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,716 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 12% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Torbay council
Have a crap-off
Paignton 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.