RatCity — Chicago Rat and Rodent Sightings Map

RatCity

4194 locations in the last 30 days (4379 reports) · Last sighting 2 days ago

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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
8/28/20262935 N HAMLIN AVEAvondale31Completed11 daysInternetCity 311
8/14/20252935 N MILWAUKEE AVEAvondale35Completed11 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
5/27/20262935 N NEWCASTLE AVEMontclare36Completed5 daysPhone CallCity 311
7/6/20262935 N WASHTENAW AVEAvondale35Completed8 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
7/11/20262935 S THROOP STBridgeport11Completed7 daysInternetCity 311
4/28/20262935 S THROOP STBridgeport11Completed2 daysInternetCity 311
8/20/20262935 W 55TH STGage Park14Completed12 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
10/6/20252935 W AUGUSTA BLVDWest Town26Completed9 daysInternetCity 311
9/16/20252935 W AUGUSTA BLVDWest Town26Completed10 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
7/20/20262935 W HOWARDWest Ridge50Completed9 daysSalesforce Mobile AppCity 311
10/19/20262935 W JARLATH STWest Ridge50Completed3 daysInternetCity 311
9/10/20262935 W SUMMERDALE AVELincoln Square39Completed14 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
4/23/20262935 W WALTON STWest Town26Completed1 dayPhone CallCity 311
10/29/20262936 N AVERS AVEAvondale31Open—Alderman's OfficeCity 311
7/31/20262936 N HOYNE AVENorth Center32Completed10 daysPhone CallCity 311
9/29/20262936 N KILPATRICK AVEBelmont Cragin31Completed15 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
9/22/20262936 N MONITOR AVEBelmont Cragin30Completed14 daysInternetCity 311
10/9/20262936 N PARKSIDE AVEBelmont Cragin31Completed14 daysInternetCity 311
8/31/20262936 S SHIELDS AVEArmour Square11Completed11 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
10/7/20252936 S THROOP STBridgeport11Completed1 dayPhone CallCity 311
7/16/20262936 W JEROME STWest Ridge50Completed7 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
9/14/20262936 W LYNDALE STLogan Square1Completed14 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
7/26/20262936 W PERSHING RDBrighton Park12Completed3 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
11/1/20262937 N ALBANY AVEAvondale35Open—Mobile DeviceCity 311
8/18/20252937 N ALBANY AVEAvondale35Completed11 daysPhone CallCity 311
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