William Eichler 30 July 2025

Cities ranked by new ‘smell score’

Cities ranked by new ‘smell score’ image
Reading © Dmitrijs Kaminskis / Shutterstock.com.

Reading is the nicest smelling city in the UK while Leeds has been identified as the smelliest, according to a ‘smell score’ scale.

The vape retailers HAYPP analysed city cleanliness factors, including air quality and rubbish disposal satisfaction, to develop a ‘smell score’ for each city.

Reading scored 8.6 on the scale and Leeds got 4.2.

Cambridge and Milton Keynes were ranked the second and third nicest smelling cities with 8.5 and 8.4 respectively, while Aberdeen and Coventry were rated the second and third worst smelling with ratings of 5 and 5.1 respectively.

Birmingham, which has been impacted by a bin collection strike since March, is the fourth worst smelling city with 5.4, followed by Portsmouth (5.5), Cardiff (5.9), Edinburgh (6.1) and Bristol (6.2). London and Glasgow came in joint nineth with 6.5.

Nottingham and Oxford were joint fourth on the nicest smelling cities list with 8.3 followed by Liverpool (8.2), Brighton (8.1), Belfast (7.9), Sheffield (7.5), and Newcastle upon Tyne (7.4).

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