Crap Towns / Kent / Whitstable
Whitstable
56/100Crap Score
Known as Whitstabubble.
437th crappest of 984 towns, and 18th in Kent. 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 Whitstable? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Islington-on-Sea.
Whitstable has oysters, a harbour and a lot of Londoners who bought the houses.
Whitstable has oysters, a fishing harbour and nice sunsets, and every weekend the DFLs come Down From London to enjoy them. A lot of the houses are holiday lets or second homes now, the High Street is jammed in summer and someone's always parked across your drive. The locals call themselves Natives. So do the oysters.
There are 1,830 hours of sun a year, 26 pubs to sit outside in it and 1 bank. The DFLs pay by card. About a sixth of premises can't get gigabit broadband, and the fly-tippers across Canterbury council run at 1.7 times the typical council's rate.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Whitstable's 91 for broadband means it's crapper than 91% of towns.
- Broadband91/10017.3% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 25.0% across the Canterbury council area
- Serious road collisions82/1003.5 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Fly-tipping80/10018.8 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Canterbury council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Food hygiene65/1003.2% rated 0 to 2, of the 252 food businesses with a rating
- Criminal damage and arson48/1006.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution45/1007.4 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.7 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Anti-social behaviour30/10011.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires28/1004.2 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Sewage spills16/10026.8 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2024 to 2025
- Rain10/100113 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | Herne Bay | 64 |
| 15 | Faversham | 64 |
| 16 | Margate | 63 |
| 17 | Swanley | 59 |
| 18 | Whitstable | 56 |
| 19 | Ashford | 55 |
| 20 | Minster | 54 |
| 21 | Snodland | 50 |
| 22 | Swanscombe | 48 |
Whitstable by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 65.6 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 14% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 4 reports of abandoned vehicles on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 1.2 per 10,000 people, 33% higher than the typical town's 0.9
- 9 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
- 2 of 2 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 26 pubs, 23 hairdressers, 11 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 1 vape shop, 1 bank on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 7.4% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (2 of 27) Worse: 1.9x the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Better: 3.1 per 100,000 people, 9% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 10 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 3.1 per 10,000 people, 1.9x the typical town's 1.6
- 4 public swimming pools open Better: 1.2 per 10,000 people, 1.7x the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.15am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.7% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 40% higher than the typical town's 0.5%
- 30.9% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 2x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,830 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 19% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Canterbury council
Have a crap-off
Whitstable 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.