Crap Towns / Gloucestershire / Stroud
Stroud
44/100Crap Score
549th crappest of 984 towns, and 5th in Gloucestershire. 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 Stroud? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Sourdough and aggro.
Farmers' market, artists, sourdough and more aggro on the streets than you'd guess.
Stroud calls itself Notting Hill with wellies, and it's full of artists, sourdough and people telling you about the farmers' market. The high street's going downhill and there's nothing to do at night.
Somehow the anti-social behaviour is worse than most. All that organic food and they still kick off. Cars get broken into at two and a half times the typical town's rate, and 2.5% of premises can't get superfast broadband, five times the typical town's share. Very progressive. Very slow.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Stroud's 90 for broadband means it's crapper than 90% of towns.
- Broadband90/10018.9% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 19.2% across the Stroud council area
- Anti-social behaviour88/10024.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain63/100136 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Criminal damage and arson51/1007.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene42/1002.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 190 food businesses with a rating
- Fly-tipping38/1008.9 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Stroud council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Serious road collisions35/1002.0 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Deliberate fires29/1004.2 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Air pollution26/1006.4 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Sewage spills16/10028.3 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Filton | 70 |
| 2 | Gloucester | 66 |
| 3 | Patchway | 57 |
| 4 | Cheltenham | 54 |
| 5 | Stroud | 44 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.6 | Kingswood and Fishponds | 39 |
| 7 | Tewkesbury | 38 |
| 8 | Quedgeley and Hardwicke | 37 |
| 9 | Cirencester | 36 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Stroud by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 87.9 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 15% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 1,419 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 544 per 10,000 people, 160x the typical town's 3.4
- 1 serious pollution incident within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2019
What's left on the high street
- 21 pubs, 16 hairdressers, 11 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 1 vape shop, 4 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 10.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (3 of 30) Worse: 2.5x the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 11.5 per 100,000 people, 3.4x the typical town's 3.4
- 6 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.3 per 10,000 people, 44% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open Better: 0.8 per 10,000 people, 14% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
- 2 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.08am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 2.5% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 5x the typical town's 0.5%
- 11.3% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 27% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,544 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Stroud council
- £2,491 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £99 more than the English average
- 26% of Gloucestershire County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 1.6x England's 16%
- 1 ombudsman complaint upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Stroud 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.