Crap Towns / Mid Glamorgan / Pontypridd
Pontypridd
57/100Crap Score
419th crappest of 984 towns, and 5th in Mid 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
Got something to say about Pontypridd? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Wet, mostly.
They wrote the Welsh national anthem here. Then they built a plaza with no roof on it.
Ponty has the Old Bridge, a lido and a park, and the Welsh national anthem was written here, which they'll mention. Locals call it Ponty Carlo. It rains on 171 days a year, and they built a riverside plaza with no shelter.
The Taff gets the sewage, with the storm overflows going off for nearly ten times the typical town's hours. The banks have announced 3 branch closures, and gigabit gets to 73.3% of premises. Cardiff still gets the money.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Pontypridd's 97 for sewage spills means it's crapper than 97% of towns.
- Sewage spills97/1002,684 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Broadband95/10026.7% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 18.6% across the Rhondda Cynon Taf council area
- Rain92/100171 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Fly-tipping71/10015.3 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Rhondda Cynon Taf council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Criminal damage and arson56/1007.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires50/100
- Anti-social behaviour42/10014.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution32/1008.0 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.5 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Food hygiene29/1001.7% rated 0 to 2, of the 235 food businesses with a rating
- Serious road collisions5/1001.0 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Porth | 76 |
| 2 | Rhondda | 71 |
| 3 | Merthyr Tydfil | 69 |
| 4 | Aberdare | 68 |
| 5 | Pontypridd | 57 |
| 6 | Maesteg | 53 |
| 7 | Tonypandy | 52 |
| 8 | Mountain Ash | 49 |
| 9 | Tonyrefail | 44 |
Pontypridd by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 97.1 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 27% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 7 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 2.2 per 10,000 people, 35% lower than the typical town's 3.4
What's left on the high street
- 15 pubs, 10 hairdressers, 6 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 2 vape shops, 3 banks, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 2.6% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 38) Better: 35% lower than the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 9.4 per 100,000 people, 2.8x the typical town's 3.4
- 7 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.2 per 10,000 people, 38% higher than the typical town's 1.6
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.08am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.9% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 3.8x the typical town's 0.5%
- 7.9% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 49% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,513 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Rhondda Cynon Taf council
Have a crap-off
Pontypridd 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.