Crap Towns / Devon / Teignmouth
Teignmouth
24/100Crap Score
749th crappest of 984 towns, and 13th in Devon. 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 Teignmouth? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
The gulls run it.
Teignmouth has Back Beach, a pier and seagulls that will take the chips out of your hand.
Teignmouth has a pier, Back Beach, beaches by the railway and views over to Shaldon. Visitors can't pronounce it and the gulls nick your food. The pier isn't what it was and the traffic crawls across town.
There are 1,723 hours of sun a year, and Teignbridge wants £2,643 for a Band D home to sit in it. Dawlish reckons it's the nicer town. The figures say Dawlish is wrong.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Teignmouth's 70 for broadband means it's crapper than 70% of towns.
- Broadband70/1005.6% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 23.1% across the Teignbridge council area
- Sewage spills65/100496 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson52/1007.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene52/1002.6% rated 0 to 2, of the 116 food businesses with a rating
- Rain47/100126 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Anti-social behaviour30/10012.0 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping28/1007.3 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Teignbridge council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Serious road collisions25/1001.7 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Deliberate fires12/1002.5 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Air pollution8/1004.1 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.2 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Honiton | 37 |
| 10 | Dawlish | 31 |
| 11 | Tavistock | 27 |
| 12 | Kingsteignton | 26 |
| 13 | Teignmouth | 24 |
| 14 | Brixham | 23 |
| 15 | Ivybridge | 18 |
| 16 | Exmouth | 12 |
| 17 | Sidmouth | 5 |
Teignmouth by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 61.9 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 19% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 2 reports of fly-tipping on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 1.3 per 10,000 people, 18% higher than the typical town's 1.1
- 1 serious pollution incident within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
- 3 of 5 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 13 pubs, 3 hairdressers, 3 charity shops, 1 bank on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 7.7% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 13) Worse: 1.9x the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 6.5 per 100,000 people, 1.9x the typical town's 3.4
- 7 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 4.6 per 10,000 people, 2.9x the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open Better: 1.3 per 10,000 people, 1.9x the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.40am 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%
- 17.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 12% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,723 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 12% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Teignbridge council
Have a crap-off
Teignmouth 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.