Crap Towns / Hertfordshire / Welwyn Garden City
Welwyn Garden City
42/100Crap Score
576th crappest of 984 towns, and 9th in Hertfordshire. 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
Lovely trees. Now what?
Leafy, tidy and planned to the inch. Nobody planned anything to do of a night.
Welwyn Garden City was planned down to the last tree, and it's leafy, tidy and has big white cereal silos on the skyline. Nobody planned any nightlife. There's walking, there's golf, and then bed. Locals call it Welwyn Garden Shitty. They call Hatfield Shatfield, which cheers them up.
For a garden city, a lot gets dumped in it. The council logs fly-tipping at nearly two and a half times the typical council's rate, and anti-social behaviour runs at 1.6 times the typical town's. There are 3 public toilets in the whole town, so after the golf you're holding it.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Welwyn Garden City's 89 for fly-tipping means it's crapper than 89% of towns.
- Fly-tipping89/10026.1 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Welwyn Hatfield council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Anti-social behaviour82/10022.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution81/10010.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.5 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Deliberate fires59/1006.8 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Broadband51/1006.6% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 12.0% across the Welwyn Hatfield council area
- Criminal damage and arson38/1006.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain17/100116 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills15/10023.3 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Serious road collisions14/1001.5 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Food hygiene5/1000.6% rated 0 to 2, of the 174 food businesses with a rating
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Stevenage | 50 |
| 6 | Baldock | 45 |
| 7 | Potters Bar | 43 |
| 8 | Bushey | 42 |
| 9 | Welwyn Garden City | 42 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.10 | Watford | 38 |
| 11 | Hitchin | 35 |
| 12 | Letchworth | 28 |
| 13 | Hoddesdon | 28 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Welwyn Garden City by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 75.4 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 76.2
- 106 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 20.6 per 10,000 people, 6.1x the typical town's 3.4
- 1 serious pollution incident within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2020
What's left on the high street
- 13 pubs, 7 hairdressers, 8 charity shops, 3 bookmakers, 5 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 16) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 4 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 7.8 per 100,000 people, 2.3x the typical town's 3.4
- 3 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.6 per 10,000 people, 63% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open Worse: 0.4 per 10,000 people, 43% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.57pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2.8x the typical town's 0.5%
- 22.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 45% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,616 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 5% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Welwyn Hatfield council
- £2,452 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £60 more than the English average
- 18% of Hertfordshire County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 13% higher than England's 16%
- 5 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Welwyn Garden City 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.