Crap Towns / Perth and Kinross / Perth
Perth
59/100Crap Score
Known as the Fair City.
403rd crappest of 984 towns. It's the crappest town in the table for Perth and Kinross 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
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agree it's crap have defended it
Perth. Fair City, empty shops.
Made a city in 2012, lost its Debenhams not long after, and let the barbers have the empty units.
Perth got made a city in 2012 and has been telling Dundee about it ever since. It's got the Tay, the North and South Inch, and the Stone of Destiny on show in the old City Hall, after years of arguing over what to do with the building. The High Street lost Debenhams and the barbers moved into the gaps. 79 hairdressers. That's a fucking lot of hairdressers for a town that's losing its shops.
Crime runs 37% over the typical Scottish town's, and possession of weapons at twice it. 15.7% of premises can't get gigabit broadband, which is a bit embarrassing for a city, and across the council area it's 44.9%. Folk go to Dundee, Edinburgh or Glasgow for proper shopping, and Dundee fans never let Saints fans forget it.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Perth's 96 for broadband means it's crapper than 96% of towns.
- Broadband96/10015.7% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 44.9% across the Perth and Kinross council area
- Serious road collisions83/1002.4 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson71/1008.8 per 1,000 people a year, January 2023 to December 2025
- Rain66/100139 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Anti-social behaviour61/1009.1 per 1,000 people a year, January 2023 to December 2025
- Fly-tipping50/100
- Food hygiene38/1004.2% told to improve, of the 333 food businesses inspected
- Deliberate fires25/10010.8 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Sewage spills24/10059.8 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2025
- Air pollution5/1005.0 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 4.4 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Perth | 59 |
Perth by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 74.5 crimes per 1,000 people a year (January 2023 to December 2025) Worse: 37% higher than the typical Scottish town's 54.4
- 12 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 2.5 per 10,000 people, 55% lower than the typical Scottish town's 5.6
What's left on the high street
- 26 pubs, 79 hairdressers, 10 charity shops, 5 bookmakers, 4 vape shops, 8 banks, 5 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 7.0% of takeaways inspected told to improve (3 of 43) Better: 23% lower than the typical Scottish town's 9.1%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 4.2 per 100,000 people, 24% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 8 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 1.7 per 10,000 people, 6% higher than the typical town's 1.6
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.57pm 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%
- 9.7% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 37% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,364 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 11% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Perth and Kinross council
- £1,674 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £21 more than the Scottish average
- 33% of Perth and Kinross council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 8% lower than Scotland's 36%
- 85 ombudsman complaints decided in 2025-26, none upheld Worse: 56.3 per 100,000 residents, 1.6x Scotland's 34.7
- 88.1% of the streets checked passed as clean (2025-26) About the same: About the same as Scotland's 92.2%
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Perth 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.