RatCity — Chicago Rat and Rodent Sightings Map

RatCity

4239 locations in the last 30 days (4428 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.

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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

58,858 reports match your filters.

DateAddressNeighborhoodWardStatusResponse timeReported viaSource
8/27/20262918 W PALMER STLogan Square1Completed14 daysPhone CallCity 311
6/24/20262919 N AVERS AVEAvondale31Completed7 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
7/14/20262919 N KARLOV AVEAvondale31Completed1 dayPhone CallCity 311
5/13/20262919 N KARLOV AVEAvondale31Completed6 daysPhone CallCity 311
10/21/20262919 N NAGLE AVEBelmont Cragin36Completed13 daysInternetCity 311
8/9/20262919 W 38TH PLBrighton Park12Completed10 daysInternetCity 311
8/18/20252919 W BALMORAL AVELincoln Square39Completed10 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
3/25/20262919 W LUNT AVEWest Ridge50Completed1 dayAlderman's OfficeCity 311
10/6/20262919 W SHERWIN AVEWest Ridge50Completed15 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
4/16/20262919 W SHERWIN AVEWest Ridge50Completed1 dayPhone CallCity 311
6/24/20262920 N KENOSHA AVEHermosa31Completed7 daysPhone CallCity 311
6/10/20262920 N KENOSHA AVEHermosa31Completed1 dayPhone CallCity 311
8/26/20252920 N KENOSHA AVEHermosa31Completed14 daysPhone CallCity 311
3/3/20262920 N NEVA AVEMontclare29Completed2 daysPhone CallCity 311
7/15/20262920 N RICHMOND STAvondale35Completed9 daysPhone CallCity 311
8/22/20252920 N SEELEY AVENorth Center32Completed14 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
9/24/20252920 N SEELEY AVENorth Center32Completed8 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
10/2/20252920 N SEELEY AVENorth Center32Completed6 daysPhone CallCity 311
7/28/20252920 N SEELEY AVENorth Center32Completed9 daysPhone CallCity 311
10/21/20252920 S QUINN STBridgeport11Completed6 daysInternetCity 311
10/14/20252920 S QUINN STBridgeport11Completed7 daysInternetCity 311
10/3/20252920 S THROOP STBridgeport11Completed7 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
2/9/20262920 W CHASE AVEWest Ridge50Completed0 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
9/18/20262920 W RASCHER AVELincoln Square39Completed14 daysPhone CallCity 311
10/12/20262920 W RASCHER AVELincoln Square39Completed14 daysPhone CallCity 311
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