Crap Towns / Renfrewshire / Renfrew
Renfrew
56/100Crap Score
431st crappest of 984 towns, and 2nd in Renfrewshire. 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
Renfrew. No station. Planes overhead.
A royal burgh with a castle for a town hall, no railway station, and the airport's flight path right on top of it.
Renfrew gave Renfrewshire its name, and Paisley took the council, the shops and the attention. It's a royal burgh with a town hall that looks like a wee castle, the Clyde on one side and the planes coming in to Glasgow Airport low over the roofs. It hasn't had a railway station since the sixties.
The shoplifters are busy, at over twice the typical Scottish town's rate, and the storm overflows spilled at six times the typical town's, with 2025 the worst year yet. Only Paisley's crapper in Renfrewshire, and Paisley's the one that took its council. The wee ferry to Yoker's still running, for when you've had enough.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Renfrew's 93 for rain means it's crapper than 93% of towns.
- Rain93/100172 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills91/1001,672 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour68/10010.2 per 1,000 people a year, January 2023 to December 2025
- Criminal damage and arson57/1007.6 per 1,000 people a year, January 2023 to December 2025
- Serious road collisions54/1001.8 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Fly-tipping50/100
- Air pollution38/1009.9 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.0 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Deliberate fires38/10015.7 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Food hygiene8/1001.4% told to improve, of the 141 food businesses inspected
- Broadband7/1002.3% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 3.3% across the Renfrewshire council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paisley | 74 |
| 2 | Renfrew | 56 |
| 3 | Johnstone | 45 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.4 | Erskine | 14 |
| 5 | Bishopton | 4 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Renfrew by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 70.4 crimes per 1,000 people a year (January 2023 to December 2025) Worse: 29% higher than the typical Scottish town's 54.4
- 18 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 7.6 per 10,000 people, 36% higher than the typical Scottish town's 5.6
What's left on the high street
- 7 pubs, 3 hairdressers, 1 charity shop, 3 bookmakers, 2 banks on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 4.2% of takeaways inspected told to improve (1 of 24) Better: 54% lower than the typical Scottish town's 9.1%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 4.2 per 100,000 people, 24% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 3 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.3 per 10,000 people, 19% lower than the typical town's 1.6
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.11am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as 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%
- 4.7% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 70% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,325 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 14% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Renfrewshire council
- £1,691 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £38 more than the Scottish average
- 31% of Renfrewshire council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 14% lower than Scotland's 36%
- 84 ombudsman complaints decided in 2025-26, none upheld Worse: 45.7 per 100,000 residents, 32% higher than Scotland's 34.7
- 93.5% 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
Renfrew 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.