Crap Towns / Somerset / Taunton
Taunton
52/100Crap Score
474th crappest of 984 towns, and 3rd in Somerset. 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
Shops shutting, lights going off
County town with cricket and a castle, slowly losing its shops and its nightlife.
Taunton's the county town, with county cricket, a castle and Vivary Park. The High Street's losing shops and the nightlife's fading. People moan about the floodlights at the cricket.
Crime sits at nearly one and a half times the typical town's rate, with shoplifting at over twice and bike theft at three times. The one bathing water, the River Tone at French Weir Park, came out Poor. The big comfort is that Bridgwater's worse, and for once the figures back it up.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Taunton's 85 for broadband means it's crapper than 85% of towns.
- Broadband85/10011.5% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 24.3% across the Somerset council area
- Criminal damage and arson72/1008.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour71/10018.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills60/100416 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain59/100133 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Deliberate fires58/1006.5 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Serious road collisions53/1002.5 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Food hygiene27/1001.7% rated 0 to 2, of the 402 food businesses with a rating
- Air pollution25/1006.8 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.7 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Fly-tipping19/1006.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Somerset council area, 2023-24 to 2024-25
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bath | 66 |
| 2 | Bridgwater | 57 |
| 3 | Taunton | 52 |
| 4 | Keynsham | 51 |
| 5 | Weston-super-Mare | 51 |
| 6 | Midsomer Norton | 41 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.7 | Chard | 38 |
| 8 | Yeovil | 34 |
| 9 | Minehead | 33 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Taunton 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
- 12 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 1.9 per 10,000 people, 44% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 6 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2024
- Poor River Tone at French Weir Park's bathing water rating, 2025
What's left on the high street
- 30 pubs, 57 hairdressers, 17 charity shops, 6 bookmakers, 4 vape shops, 9 banks, 3 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 39) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Better: 1.6 per 100,000 people, 53% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 4 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.6 per 10,000 people, 63% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 9 public swimming pools open; 2 closed for good since 2010 Better: 1.5 per 10,000 people, 2.1x the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.07am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.5% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 0.5%
- 12.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 20% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,560 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Somerset council
Have a crap-off
Taunton 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.