Crap Towns / Tyne and Wear / Sunderland
Sunderland
87/100Crap Score
Locals are Mackems.
127th crappest of 984 towns, and 7th in Tyne and Wear. 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 Sunderland? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Never call a Mackem a Geordie
Used to build ships for the world. Now it's empty shops and a burning hatred of Newcastle.
Sunderland built ships, made glass and now puts most of its energy into hating Newcastle. Call a Mackem a Geordie and see what happens. The city centre has lost its big shops, the nightlife's thin and the gulls are a menace. Roker's nice.
Stuff gets torched at over eight times the typical town's rate, the bins at about sixteen times, and the council's fly-tipping is over three times the typical council's. Bunny Hill, Ryhope and Sandhill libraries all shut in 2017, and 5 swimming pools have gone since 2010. Newcastle's crapper, mind. That's the bit they'll quote.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Sunderland's 98 for deliberate fires means it's crapper than 98% of towns.
- Deliberate fires98/10047.0 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Criminal damage and arson95/10013.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping95/10035.9 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Sunderland council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Anti-social behaviour82/10022.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene71/1003.3% rated 0 to 2, of the 999 food businesses with a rating
- Serious road collisions51/1002.4 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Air pollution50/1009.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.0 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Sewage spills39/100166 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain32/100121 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Broadband29/1005.4% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 5.3% across the Sunderland council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | South Shields | 94 |
| 4 | Blaydon | 92 |
| 5 | Gateshead | 90 |
| 6 | Tynemouth | 89 |
| 7 | Sunderland | 87 |
| 8 | Jarrow | 82 |
| 9 | Hebburn | 75 |
| 10 | Houghton-le-Spring | 73 |
| 11 | Birtley | 69 |
Sunderland by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 111 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 46% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 71 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 4.2 per 10,000 people, 24% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 7 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
- 1 of 3 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 83 pubs, 59 hairdressers, 15 charity shops, 19 bookmakers, 2 vape shops, 15 banks, 13 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 6.2% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (12 of 194) Worse: 1.6x the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Better: 0.6 per 100,000 people, 82% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 3 libraries shut for good since 2010: Bunny Hill (2017), Ryhope (2017) and Sandhill (2017)
- 17 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.0 per 10,000 people, 38% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 11 public swimming pools open; 5 closed for good since 2010 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
- 12.40am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.2% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2.4x the typical town's 0.5%
- 30.8% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 2x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,567 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Sunderland council
Have a crap-off
Sunderland 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.