Overview
- The Demos‑PwC Good Growth for Cities Index 2025 ranks Walsall as the most deprived place in the UK.
- The study also places Walsall as having the second least healthy high street and the third worst job market, with the weakest growth over the past year.
- Residents and traders describe vacant shops, dumped rubbish, low market takings, and visible homelessness and drug use, with many avoiding the town centre after dark.
- Community workers report youth disorder, frequent small fires, and heightened knife‑crime risk, noting anti‑stabbing efforts reaching primary school pupils.
- Walsall Council deputy leader Adrian Andrew urges a shift in narrative and points to ongoing projects and the We Are Walsall 2040 strategy.