RatCity — Chicago Rat and Rodent Sightings Map

RatCity

4414 locations in the last 30 days (4608 reports) · Last sighting 11 hours 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

59,088 reports match your filters.

DateAddressNeighborhoodWardStatusResponse timeReported viaSource
5/15/20263000 W JARVIS AVEWest Ridge50Completed6 daysPhone CallCity 311
11/11/20253000 W MONTROSE AVEAlbany Park33Completed2 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
5/14/20263000 W NORTH AVEHumboldt Park26Completed5 daysInternetCity 311
4/27/20263000 W PRATT BLVDWest Ridge50Completed4 daysInternetCity 311
9/25/20253000 W PRATT BLVDWest Ridge50Completed1 dayInternetCity 311
11/3/20263000 W SCHOOL STAvondale33Open—Mobile DeviceCity 311
10/1/20263000 W SHERWIN AVEWest Ridge50Completed14 daysPhone CallCity 311
7/4/20263000 W WALNUT STEast Garfield Park27Completed9 daysInternetCity 311
6/20/20263001 N ALBANY AVEAvondale35Completed4 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
6/24/20263001 N GRESHAM AVEAvondale35Completed7 daysInternetCity 311
9/24/20263001 N LOWELL AVEHermosa31Completed14 daysInternetCity 311
6/8/20263001 N MENARD AVEBelmont Cragin30Completed7 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
9/25/20253001N N OAK PARK AVEMontclare36Completed6 daysInternetCity 311
7/14/20263001N N OAK PARK AVEMontclare36Completed7 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
2/27/20263001 N SPAULDING AVEAvondale35Completed4 daysPhone CallCity 311
6/18/20263001 S DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DRDouglas4Completed5 daysInternetCity 311
8/29/20253001 S DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DRDouglas4Completed11 daysInternetCity 311
3/12/20263001 S DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DRDouglas4Completed3 daysInternetCity 311
10/2/20253001 S PARNELL AVEBridgeport11Completed8 daysInternetCity 311
8/7/20263001 S PRINCETON AVEArmour Square11Completed11 daysPhone CallCity 311
1/21/20263001 S PRINCETON AVEArmour Square11Completed1 dayPhone CallCity 311
9/18/20263001 W 59TH STChicago Lawn15Completed13 daysInternetCity 311
10/23/20263001 W ADDISON STAvondale35Open—Mobile DeviceCity 311
4/27/20263001 W BIRCHWOODWest Ridge50Completed4 daysSalesforce Mobile AppCity 311
5/28/20263001 W LYNDALE STLogan Square1Completed5 daysPhone CallCity 311
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