Crap Towns / Kent / Ramsgate
Ramsgate
67/100Crap Score
321st crappest of 984 towns, and 12th in Kent. 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 Ramsgate? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Don't go up the hill.
Lovely harbour. Walk up into town and it's boarded up shops and street drinkers.
Ramsgate has a Royal Harbour, Georgian terraces and a lovely beach, and if you stay down by the water it's fine. Go up the High Street and it's boarded-up shops, street drinking and old buildings left to rot, with 3 of them on the Heritage at Risk register. Locals call it Ramfrancisco. They're having a laugh.
The vandals are busier here than most places, and the bad crashes are worse than most too. There are 39 pubs, nearly twice the typical town's per head, and Barclays, Halifax, NatWest and Santander have each shut a branch, so plenty to spend your money on and nowhere to get it out. Margate's up the road, if you fancy a change of grim.
There are 1,860 hours of sun a year, so you can see the state of it clearly.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Ramsgate's 93 for serious road collisions means it's crapper than 93% of towns.
- Serious road collisions93/1004.4 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson91/10011.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband91/10019.0% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 20.8% across the Thanet council area
- Anti-social behaviour83/10022.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping77/10017.3 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Thanet council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Air pollution46/1007.6 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.7 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Deliberate fires27/1004.1 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Food hygiene7/1001.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 375 food businesses with a rating
- Sewage spills7/1002.8 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2024 to 2025
- Rain7/100112 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Dover | 72 |
| 9 | Rochester | 72 |
| 10 | Maidstone | 69 |
| 11 | Gillingham | 69 |
| 12 | Ramsgate | 67 |
| 13 | Folkestone | 65 |
| 14 | Herne Bay | 64 |
| 15 | Faversham | 64 |
| 16 | Margate | 63 |
Ramsgate by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 119 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 1.6x the typical town's 76.2
- 1 reports of fly-tipping on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 0.2 per 10,000 people, 82% lower than the typical town's 1.1
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
- 2 of 3 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 39 pubs, 17 hairdressers, 2 charity shops, 1 bookmaker, 2 vape shops, 3 banks on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 5.2% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (3 of 58) Worse: 30% higher than the typical town's 4.0%
- 4 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 9.5 per 100,000 people, 2.8x the typical town's 3.4
- 13 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 3.1 per 10,000 people, 1.9x the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open; 4 closed for good since 2010 Worse: 0.5 per 10,000 people, 29% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
- 3 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.40am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.3% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 40% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 21.6% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 39% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,860 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 21% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Thanet council
Have a crap-off
Ramsgate 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.