Crap Towns / Greater Manchester / Swinton
Swinton
93/100Crap Score
73rd crappest of 984 towns, and 15th in Greater Manchester. 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
The Lions don't even play here.
Salford's town hall is in Swinton, and so are the empty shops it walks past every morning.
Swinton's got the Civic Centre, so the whole of Salford council works here, and Lancastrian Hall next door has been shut for years. They walk past it every morning. The Lions sold Station Road in 1992 and have played everywhere but Swinton since. Sensible lads. Swintonians still turn out to hate Salford at the rugby.
The air's 1.7 times the typical town's for nitrogen dioxide, some bright spark sets a fire more than three times as often, mostly on the grass, and there's barely a play area for the kids. The council could look out of the window and see the lot.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Swinton's 88 for fly-tipping means it's crapper than 88% of towns.
- Fly-tipping88/10024.6 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Salford council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Air pollution88/10014.4 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.4 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Deliberate fires88/10018.7 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Rain83/100160 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Criminal damage and arson82/10010.1 per 1,000 people a year, July 2023 to June 2026
- Food hygiene82/1005.4% rated 0 to 2, of the 129 food businesses with a rating
- Anti-social behaviour74/10019.4 per 1,000 people a year, July 2023 to June 2026
- Sewage spills63/100462 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Serious road collisions48/1002.4 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Broadband6/1000.8% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 5.8% across the Salford council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Oldham | 94 |
| 12 | Little Hulton | 93 |
| 13 | Audenshaw | 93 |
| 14 | Horwich | 93 |
| 15 | Swinton | 93 |
| 16 | Ashton-under-Lyne | 91 |
| 17 | Middleton | 91 |
| 18 | Worsley | 90 |
| 19 | Denton | 89 |
Swinton 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 (July 2023 to June 2026) Worse: 36% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 5 problems reported on FixMyStreet in the year to October 2026 Better: 2.2 per 10,000 people, 89% lower than the typical town's 20.4
What's left on the high street
- 7 pubs, 1 charity shop on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 3.3% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 30) Better: 18% lower than the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 8.7 per 100,000 people, 2.6x the typical town's 3.4
- 4 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 1.7 per 10,000 people, 6% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 3 public swimming pools open Better: 1.3 per 10,000 people, 1.9x the typical English town's 0.7
- 1 place on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 2.03am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- Under 0.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: Far lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 34.3% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 2.2x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,393 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 9% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Salford council
Have a crap-off
Swinton 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.