Crap Towns / North Yorkshire / York
York
85/100Crap Score
People from here are Yorkies.
150th crappest of 984 towns, and 3rd in North Yorkshire. 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. Rammed. Pissed.
Medieval walls, the Shambles and every stag and hen do in the north on a Saturday.
York is gorgeous, and every Saturday it's taken over by stag and hen dos. The Shambles is so rammed with tourists you can't buy anything, parking costs a fortune and the ring road's solid. The streets are called gates, the gates are called bars, and the bars are rammed.
Anti-social behaviour sits at twice the typical town's rate, and 19 of its 146 rated takeaways score 0 to 2, so mind the kebab after the stag do. Bike theft runs at nine times the typical town's, so chain it to something medieval. The storm overflows spill for nearly five times as long as the typical town's. Only Middlesbrough's crapper in North Yorkshire. Lovely walls, though.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
York's 93 for anti-social behaviour means it's crapper than 93% of towns.
- Anti-social behaviour93/10028.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills88/1001,314 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Food hygiene87/1004.7% rated 0 to 2, of the 1,348 food businesses with a rating
- Deliberate fires77/10011.0 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Criminal damage and arson68/1008.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions60/1002.7 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Broadband43/1006.1% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 9.7% across the York council area
- Fly-tipping43/10010.0 incidents per 1,000 people a year, York council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Air pollution39/1008.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Rain21/100118 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middlesbrough | 96 |
| 2 | Eston | 86 |
| 3 | York | 85 |
| 4 | Scarborough | 78 |
| 5 | Guisborough | 78 |
| 6 | Skipton | 74 |
| 7 | Redcar | 71 |
| 8 | Thornaby-on-Tees | 71 |
| 9 | Whitby | 64 |
York by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 89.4 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 17% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 202 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 14.3 per 10,000 people, 4.2x the typical town's 3.4
- 9 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 137 pubs, 117 hairdressers, 29 charity shops, 8 bookmakers, 8 vape shops, 19 banks, 5 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 13.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (19 of 146) Worse: 3.3x the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Better: 1.4 per 100,000 people, 59% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 30 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.1 per 10,000 people, 31% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 14 public swimming pools open; 3 closed for good since 2010 Better: 1.0 per 10,000 people, 43% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
- 1 place 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
- 1.8% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 3.6x the typical town's 0.5%
- 12.7% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 18% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,405 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 8% lower than the typical town's 1,532
York council
Have a crap-off
York 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.