Crap Towns / Shropshire / Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
39/100Crap Score
Known as Salop. Locals are Salopians.
604th crappest of 984 towns, and 2nd in Shropshire. 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 Shrewsbury? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Under water again.
Medieval streets, a castle and the Severn coming over the car parks.
Shrewsbury is very pretty and very pleased about it. Timber frames, a red castle, the Quarry park and a loop of the Severn wrapped round the lot. Then the Severn floods the car parks again and everyone spends the winter going round. Nobody can agree how to say the name, either. Shroosbury, for the record.
The river they're so proud of has an official bathing spot, and it was rated Poor. No wonder, with the storm overflows spilling at 4.1 times the typical town's rate. On a Sunday there isn't a single bus, and on a Wednesday the last one goes at 10.13pm, which in a town with this many pubs is cutting it fine. Wrexham fans reckon it's a shithole. Nobody listens to Wrexham fans.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Shrewsbury's 85 for sewage spills means it's crapper than 85% of towns.
- Sewage spills85/1001,113 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Broadband78/1007.4% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 25.4% across the Shropshire council area
- Criminal damage and arson63/1008.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene55/1002.7% rated 0 to 2, of the 483 food businesses with a rating
- Anti-social behaviour53/10015.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain51/100128 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Deliberate fires35/1004.9 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Serious road collisions21/1001.7 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Air pollution18/1005.6 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.7 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Fly-tipping9/1004.3 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Shropshire council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Telford | 59 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.2 | Shrewsbury | 39 |
| 3 | Newport | 29 |
| 4 | Oswestry | 28 |
| 5 | Bridgnorth | 23 |
| 6 | Ludlow | 19 |
| 7 | Market Drayton | 8 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Shrewsbury by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 80.3 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 5% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 1,306 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 172 per 10,000 people, 50.6x the typical town's 3.4
- 9 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2024
- Poor River Severn in Shrewsbury's bathing water rating, 2025
What's left on the high street
- 69 pubs, 60 hairdressers, 24 charity shops, 6 bookmakers, 6 vape shops, 10 banks, 5 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 5.4% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (4 of 74) Worse: 35% higher than the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Better: 1.3 per 100,000 people, 62% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 15 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.0 per 10,000 people, 25% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 7 public swimming pools open; 1 closed for good since 2010 Better: 0.9 per 10,000 people, 29% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
- 4 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 10.13pm last bus out on a Wednesday, and none on a Sunday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.3% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2.6x the typical town's 0.5%
- 17.5% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 13% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,408 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 8% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Shropshire council
Have a crap-off
Shrewsbury 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.