RatCity — Chicago Rat and Rodent Sightings Map

RatCity

4084 locations in the last 30 days (4267 reports) · Last sighting yesterday

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What am I looking at?

Each circle is a Chicago neighborhood. The number is its report count — click one to zoom in and see individual sightings there.

32080fewer → more

Colors are relative to what’s currently on screen, so they adjust as you switch time ranges.

Zoomed into a neighborhood or zip? Same colors group nearby reports, and a bright dot means that exact spot’s been reported more than once.

Why Chicago keeps score on its rats

Chicago has topped national rankings of the rattiest U.S. cities for over a decade running — a reputation the city itself takes seriously enough to run one of the country’s most active 311 rodent-complaint programs. Every baiting request, burrow report, and complaint filed with the city becomes a public record. RatCity turns that record, plus reports from people who live here, into a map you can actually use: is this block bad? Is it getting worse? Which neighborhood is winning (or losing) the fight this month?

What’s actually on the map

Most of the data is Chicago’s own — every “Rodent Baiting/Rat Complaint” filed through 311, pulled in automatically once a day so the map never goes stale. Layered on top are sightings reported directly by visitors, matched to the same neighborhood and zip-code boundaries the city uses, so a resident’s report and an official 311 complaint carry equal weight on the map.

Reading the map

Circles are sized and colored by how many reports a neighborhood has racked up — blue is quiet, red means trouble. The Day / Week / 30 Days / Year toggle up top changes the window, so you can see whether a neighborhood’s rat problem is a one-week blip or a year-long trend. Whoever’s in the lead gets crowned the neighborhood Rat King in the sidebar, a title that changes hands as new reports come in.

Noticed a rat that isn’t on the map yet? Use “Report a sighting” above — it takes under a minute and goes live as soon as it’s reviewed. Curious about where the data actually comes from or how reports are moderated? See the About page for the full breakdown.

Want more? The blog has weekly trend recaps and guides on Chicago’s rat problem and how to keep it out of your home.

Browse every sighting

59,447 reports match your filters.

DateAddressNeighborhoodWardStatusResponse timeReported viaSource
1/15/20263643 N WAYNE AVELake View44Completed1 dayMobile DeviceCity 311
8/3/20263643 S EMERALD AVEBridgeport11Completed10 daysInternetCity 311
7/30/20263643 S HERMITAGE AVEMcKinley Park12Completed11 daysPhone CallCity 311
9/23/20263643 W 113TH STMount Greenwood19Completed13 daysInternetCity 311
9/29/20263643 W 56TH STWest Elsdon23Completed14 daysPhone CallCity 311
12/12/20253643 W 66TH STWest Lawn23Completed3 daysPhone CallCity 311
10/20/20263643 W 70TH STWest Lawn23Completed13 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
7/30/20253643 W 70TH STWest Lawn23Completed9 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
9/21/20263643 W 85TH PLAshburn18Completed10 daysPhone CallCity 311
11/6/20263643 W 86TH STAshburn18Open—Mobile DeviceCity 311
5/4/20263643 W BELMONT AVEAvondale35Completed2 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
8/4/20253643 W DIVERSEY AVELogan Square35Completed3 daysPhone CallCity 311
8/20/20253643 W DIVERSEY AVELogan Square35Completed9 daysPhone CallCity 311
3/12/20263643 W DOUGLAS BLVDNorth Lawndale24Completed3 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
5/11/20263644 N CLAREMONT AVENorth Center47Completed2 daysPhone CallCity 311
5/15/20263644 N CLAREMONT AVENorth Center47Completed4 daysPhone CallCity 311
10/15/20263644 N CLAREMONT AVENorth Center47Completed15 daysPhone CallCity 311
10/1/20253644 N LEAVITT STNorth Center47Completed8 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
5/31/20263644 N LEAVITT STNorth Center47Completed2 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
6/2/20263644 N PITTSBURGH AVEDunning38Completed3 daysInternetCity 311
9/16/20263644 S DAMEN AVEMcKinley Park12Completed8 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
5/5/20263644 S DAMEN AVEMcKinley Park12Completed2 daysInternetCity 311
5/7/20263644 S DAMEN AVEMcKinley Park12Completed4 daysPhone CallCity 311
10/5/20263644 S DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DRDouglas4Completed15 daysInternetCity 311
9/8/20253644 W 55TH PLWest Elsdon23Completed13 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
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