RatCity — Chicago Rat and Rodent Sightings Map

RatCity

4234 locations in the last 30 days (4423 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

58,858 reports match your filters.

DateAddressNeighborhoodWardStatusResponse timeReported viaSource
8/20/20265144 S LAWNDALE AVEWest Elsdon23Completed12 daysPhone CallCity 311
9/28/20265411 S MERRIMAC AVEGarfield Ridge23Completed1 dayPhone CallCity 311
8/22/20265245 S NATOMA AVEGarfield Ridge23Completed10 daysInternetCity 311
8/21/20265023 S LAWLER AVEGarfield Ridge23Completed11 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
9/29/20265131 S MASSASOIT AVEGarfield Ridge23Completed14 daysPhone CallCity 311
10/1/20263934 W 55TH STWest Elsdon23Completed13 daysInternetCity 311
8/21/20265235 S LOREL AVEGarfield Ridge23Completed11 daysPhone CallCity 311
9/29/20266725 S KOSTNER AVEWest Lawn23Completed14 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
9/28/20263937 W 64TH PLWest Lawn23Completed15 daysPhone CallCity 311
6/2/20263938 W 63RD PLWest Lawn23Completed3 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
6/2/20265244 S KILPATRICK AVEGarfield Ridge23Completed3 daysPhone CallCity 311
6/2/20266215 W 54TH STGarfield Ridge23Completed3 daysPhone CallCity 311
6/2/20265226 S MASON AVEGarfield Ridge23Completed3 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
6/2/20265231 S MEADE AVEGarfield Ridge23Completed3 daysPhone CallCity 311
6/4/20265235 S MEADE AVEGarfield Ridge23Completed1 dayMobile DeviceCity 311
6/3/20263906 W 55TH STWest Elsdon23Completed2 daysPhone CallCity 311
9/25/20264725 W POLK STAustin24Completed3 daysPhone CallCity 311
7/31/20251626 S ST LOUIS AVENorth Lawndale24Completed8 daysPhone CallCity 311
8/13/20261230 S LAWNDALE AVENorth Lawndale24Completed14 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
5/29/20261954 S TRUMBULL AVENorth Lawndale24Completed5 daysPhone CallCity 311
10/1/20263319 W OGDEN AVENorth Lawndale24Completed14 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
8/2/20263433 W GRENSHAW STNorth Lawndale24Completed4 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
11/1/20263700 W POLK STEast Garfield Park24Open—Mobile DeviceCity 311
9/11/20261822 S SPAULDING AVENorth Lawndale24Completed12 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
5/31/20263052 W CERMAK RDSouth Lawndale24Completed3 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
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