RatCity — Chicago Rat and Rodent Sightings Map

RatCity

4701 locations in the last 30 days (4854 reports) · Last sighting yesterday

📰 Blog
DayWeek30 DaysYear
Loading map…

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

54,807 reports match your filters.

DateAddressNeighborhoodWardStatusResponse timeReported viaSource
3/8/20261528 N MASON AVEAustin29Completed1 dayMobile DeviceCity 311
8/17/20261528 S RIDGEWAY AVENorth Lawndale24Completed10 daysPhone CallCity 311
8/20/20251528 S TRIPP AVENorth Lawndale24Completed7 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
10/17/20251528 S WABASH AVENear South Side3Completed6 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
8/9/20261528 S WABASH AVENear South Side3Completed1 dayMobile DeviceCity 311
8/5/20261528 W 18TH STLower West Side25Completed8 daysPhone CallCity 311
7/23/20261528 W 18TH STLower West Side25Completed5 daysPhone CallCity 311
7/17/20261528 W 18TH STLower West Side25Completed7 daysPhone CallCity 311
5/26/20261528 W 18TH STLower West Side25Completed0 daysPhone CallCity 311
8/30/20251528 W CULLERTON STLower West Side25Completed8 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
9/14/20261528 W FULLERTON AVELincoln Park32Completed14 daysPhone CallCity 311
10/5/20261528 W MORSE AVERogers Park49Open—InternetCity 311
8/10/20261528 W NORWOOD STEdgewater48Completed11 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
8/25/20261528 W NORWOOD STEdgewater48Completed15 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
9/23/20251528 W WELLINGTON AVELake View32Completed9 daysInternetCity 311
10/28/20251529 E 86TH STAvalon Park8Completed3 daysPhone CallCity 311
9/29/20251529 N ARTESIAN AVEWest Town1Completed8 daysInternetCity 311
4/10/20261529 N CLAREMONT AVEWest Town1Completed4 daysInternetCity 311
8/20/20251529 N PAULINA STWest Town1Completed14 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
5/18/20261529 N WASHTENAW AVEWest Town26Completed0 daysPhone CallCity 311
5/13/20261529 N WASHTENAW AVEWest Town26Completed6 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
5/20/20261529 N WASHTENAW AVEWest Town26Completed6 daysPhone CallCity 311
5/19/20261529 S STATE STNear South Side3Completed3 daysInternetCity 311
9/9/20261529 S STATE STNear South Side3Completed14 daysInternetCity 311
12/7/20251529 W 19TH STLower West Side25Completed1 dayMobile DeviceCity 311
Page 241 of 2,193
PreviousNext