Crap Towns / North Yorkshire / Skipton
Skipton
74/100Crap Score
257th crappest of 984 towns, and 6th in North 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
Skipton. Sheep, and a castle.
Castle, canal, market and a whole day for sheep. And kitchens you wouldn't eat in.
Skipton is the gateway to the Dales, which mostly means people drive through it to get to the Dales. There's a castle, the canal, a market and a festival for sheep. Then there's the bus station, where the trouble hangs about, and nothing for young people to do. Sheep and pensioners, mostly. The sheep stay up the hill. Wise.
The sun manages 1,275 hours a year, so the castle's usually under a cloud, and it rains on 150 days. The storm overflows nearby go off for over ten times the typical town's hours. Barclays, Halifax and HSBC have all gone, but there's 22 pubs and 22 hairdressers, so you can get your hair done and get pissed at the same rate.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Skipton's 97 for sewage spills means it's crapper than 97% of towns.
- Sewage spills97/1002,822 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Food hygiene82/1005.3% rated 0 to 2, of the 131 food businesses with a rating
- Anti-social behaviour78/10021.0 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions75/1003.3 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Rain74/100150 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Deliberate fires54/1006.0 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Broadband53/1004.3% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 17.4% across the North Yorkshire council area
- Criminal damage and arson34/1005.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution17/1005.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.5 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Fly-tipping12/1005.0 incidents per 1,000 people a year, North Yorkshire council area, 2023-24 to 2024-25
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Eston | 86 |
| 3 | York | 85 |
| 4 | Scarborough | 78 |
| 5 | Guisborough | 78 |
| 6 | Skipton | 74 |
| 7 | Redcar | 71 |
| 8 | Thornaby-on-Tees | 71 |
| 9 | Whitby | 64 |
| 10 | Northallerton | 56 |
Skipton by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 65.3 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 14% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 7 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 4.7 per 10,000 people, 38% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 3 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2022
What's left on the high street
- 22 pubs, 22 hairdressers, 11 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 3 vape shops, 4 banks, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 5.9% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 17) Worse: 48% higher than the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 19.9 per 100,000 people, 5.9x the typical town's 3.4
- 8 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 5.3 per 10,000 people, 3.3x the typical town's 1.6
- 3 public swimming pools open Better: 2.0 per 10,000 people, 2.9x the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.43pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.2% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 60% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 0.0% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: Against the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,275 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 17% lower than the typical town's 1,532
North Yorkshire council
- £2,544 Band D council tax (2026-27) Worse: £152 more than the English average
- 18% of North Yorkshire council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 13% higher than England's 16%
- 41 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Skipton 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.