Crap Towns / West Sussex / Worthing
Worthing
44/100Crap Score
Known as Costa del Worthing.
554th crappest of 984 towns, and 10th in West Sussex. 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 Worthing? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
The gulls want your chips
A pier, a lot of charity shops, seagulls screaming from dawn, and dodgy kitchens.
Worthing's got a pier, a long seafront and gulls that scream from dawn, nick your chips and shit on everything. Teville Gate was a derelict hole so long it became a local joke. Locals call the station Least Worthing. Bognor fans call it worse.
The high street has 103 hairdressers and 39 charity shops, shoplifting is up at 2.5 times the typical town's rate and the roads see too many bad crashes. The bathing water at Worthing Beach House was rated Poor, so the gulls aren't the only ones shitting in the sea.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Worthing's 92 for serious road collisions means it's crapper than 92% of towns.
- Serious road collisions92/1004.1 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Food hygiene82/1004.2% rated 0 to 2, of the 715 food businesses with a rating
- Anti-social behaviour57/10016.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Criminal damage and arson50/1007.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution38/1007.3 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.4 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Deliberate fires32/100
- Sewage spills28/10084.1 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2024 to 2025
- Rain27/100120 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Fly-tipping15/1005.5 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Worthing council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Broadband5/1002.4% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 2.4% across the Worthing council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Barnham | 60 |
| 7 | Southwick | 55 |
| 8 | Bognor Regis | 53 |
| 9 | East Grinstead | 45 |
| 10 | Worthing | 44 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.11 | Haywards Heath | 37 |
| 12 | Burgess Hill | 36 |
| 13 | Horsham | 34 |
| 14 | Lancing and Sompting | 30 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Worthing by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 83.3 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 9% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 57 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 5.1 per 10,000 people, 1.5x the typical town's 3.4
- 6 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2023
- 0 of 4 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025; 1 rated Poor
What's left on the high street
- 43 pubs, 103 hairdressers, 39 charity shops, 11 bookmakers, 8 vape shops, 9 banks, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 6.3% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (6 of 96) Worse: 1.6x the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Better: 0.9 per 100,000 people, 74% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 30 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.7 per 10,000 people, 1.7x the typical town's 1.6
- 8 public swimming pools open; 3 closed for good since 2010 About the same: 0.7 per 10,000 people, about the same as the typical English town's 0.7
- 2 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- All night buses on a Wednesday Better: The typical town's last bus goes at 12.14am
- 0.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 80% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 34.3% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 2.2x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,840 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 20% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Worthing council
- £2,456 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £64 more than the English average
- 19% of West Sussex County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 19% higher than England's 16%
- 4 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Worthing 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.