Crap Towns / South Yorkshire / Sheffield
Sheffield
94/100Crap Score
People from here are Dee-dars.
56th crappest of 984 towns, and 4th 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
Sheffield. Something's on fire again.
Steel, snooker, the Peak District next door, and buses that don't turn up.
Sheffield made steel and cutlery for the whole world and now it can't keep a tram running. The trams get replaced by buses and the city centre's been dug up for years. Whenever there's smoke on the skyline everyone blames the old ski village. Nobody knows what's left up there to burn.
Somebody finds something. The deliberate fires come in at three and a half times the typical town's rate, the bins at over six and a half times. Serious crashes come in at nearly twice, burglary at twice. Lloyds alone has shut 5 branches since 2022. The council's roads are in better nick than the typical council's, which nobody in Sheffield will believe. The Peak District's right there. Go.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Sheffield's 93 for serious road collisions means it's crapper than 93% of towns.
- Serious road collisions93/1004.2 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Deliberate fires89/10020.1 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Fly-tipping85/10020.9 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Sheffield council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Air pollution81/10010.9 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.4 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Criminal damage and arson80/1009.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour73/10019.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain60/100133 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Food hygiene58/1002.7% rated 0 to 2, of the 3,558 food businesses with a rating
- Sewage spills45/100225 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Broadband30/1005.2% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 5.9% across the Sheffield 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 |
Sheffield by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 104 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 36% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 4,866 reports of fly-tipping on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 97.2 per 10,000 people, 88.4x the typical town's 1.1
- 33 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 259 pubs, 378 hairdressers, 62 charity shops, 44 bookmakers, 50 vape shops, 30 banks, 19 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 3.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (15 of 502) Better: 25% lower than the typical town's 4.0%
- 12 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Better: 2.4 per 100,000 people, 29% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 70 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.4 per 10,000 people, 13% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 23 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
- 12 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 1.15am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.6% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 3.2x the typical town's 0.5%
- 24.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 1.6x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,512 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Sheffield council
- £2,510 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £118 more than the English average
- 18% of Sheffield council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 13% higher than England's 16%
- 25 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Sheffield 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.