Crap Towns / South Yorkshire / Rotherham
Rotherham
97/100Crap Score
Known as Rotherscum.
26th crappest of 984 towns, and 2nd in South Yorkshire. 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
Barnsley's still crapper. Just.
They called the football ground New York. Nobody's fooled.
Rotherham made iron and steel, and now it has a football ground called New York Stadium and a town centre full of empty shops. Everyone shops at Meadowhall instead. The roadworks never finish. The sewage goes in the Don. Locals just say it's near Sheffield.
People get killed or badly hurt on the roads at twice the typical town's rate, burglary at more than twice, and things go up in flames at nearly six times. Nearly half the town is more than 400 metres from a park. Only Barnsley's crapper in South Yorkshire, and that's the one thing Rotherham will ever thank Barnsley for.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Rotherham's 96 for serious road collisions means it's crapper than 96% of towns.
- Serious road collisions96/1004.8 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Deliberate fires95/10033.3 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Criminal damage and arson91/10011.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution90/10012.6 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.7 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Anti-social behaviour87/10024.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping84/10020.3 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Rotherham council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Sewage spills83/100987 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Food hygiene51/1002.5% rated 0 to 2, of the 484 food businesses with a rating
- Rain50/100128 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Broadband1/1001.0% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 3.3% across the Rotherham council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barnsley | 98 |
| 2 | Rotherham | 97 |
| 3 | Cudworth and Shafton | 95 |
| 4 | Sheffield | 94 |
| 5 | Rawmarsh | 93 |
| 6 | Mexborough | 92 |
| 7 | Dinnington | 92 |
| 8 | Bentley | 91 |
| 9 | Wombwell | 91 |
Rotherham by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 135 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 1.8x the typical town's 76.2
- 57 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 8.0 per 10,000 people, 2.4x the typical town's 3.4
- 9 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2024
What's left on the high street
- 35 pubs, 27 hairdressers, 5 charity shops, 9 bookmakers, 3 vape shops, 9 banks, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1.5% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 68) Better: 63% lower than the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Better: 1.4 per 100,000 people, 59% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 6 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.8 per 10,000 people, 50% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 5 public swimming pools open About the same: 0.7 per 10,000 people, about the same as the typical English town's 0.7
- 5 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.37am 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%
- 46.6% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 3x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,520 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Rotherham council
- £2,382 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £10 less than the English average
- 9% of Rotherham council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 44% lower than England's 16%
- 2 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Rotherham 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.