Crap Towns / Greater Manchester / Walkden
Walkden
95/100Crap Score
47th crappest of 984 towns, and 8th 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
It rains inside in Walkden.
The shopping centre roof leaks. Outside it's the A6, which doesn't move.
Walkden's town centre is a shopping centre with a roof that lets the rain in, so you can get wet without going outside. You get rain on 163 days a year, so you'll get the chance. The A6 outside sits still all day and the trains into Manchester are rammed by Swinton.
The old loopline's a decent walk, if you can get round what the fly-tippers have left on it. There are more than six times as many bin fires as in the typical town, and the overflows run for three times as long. Little Hulton's next door, so it could be worse.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Walkden'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
- Deliberate fires87/10018.4 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Rain87/100163 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
- Air pollution80/10012.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Sewage spills79/100830 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Food hygiene76/1004.7% rated 0 to 2, of the 107 food businesses with a rating
- Anti-social behaviour74/10019.4 per 1,000 people a year, July 2023 to June 2026
- Serious road collisions57/1002.6 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Broadband8/1001.2% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 5.8% across the Salford council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Farnworth | 98 |
| 5 | Eccles | 98 |
| 6 | Heywood | 97 |
| 7 | Kearsley | 96 |
| 8 | Walkden | 95 |
| 9 | Bolton | 94 |
| 10 | Rochdale | 94 |
| 11 | Oldham | 94 |
| 12 | Little Hulton | 93 |
Walkden 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
- 1 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 0.5 per 10,000 people, 85% lower than the typical town's 3.4
What's left on the high street
- 6 pubs, 8 hairdressers, 2 charity shops, 1 bookmaker, 1 vape shop, 2 banks on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 3.9% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 26) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 public toilets on the map (October 2026) About the same: 1.6 per 10,000 people, about the same as the typical town's 1.6
- 3 public swimming pools open Better: 1.6 per 10,000 people, 2.3x the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 2.11am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 20% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 22.5% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 45% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,408 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 8% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Salford council
Have a crap-off
Walkden 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.