RatCity — Chicago Rat and Rodent Sightings Map

RatCity

4219 locations in the last 30 days (4402 reports) · Last sighting yesterday

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

59,238 reports match your filters.

DateAddressNeighborhoodWardStatusResponse timeReported viaSource
7/28/20254511 S INDIANA AVEGrand Boulevard3Completed8 daysPhone CallCity 311
10/10/20254511 S HONORE STNew City15Completed7 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
7/27/20264511 S HERMITAGE AVENew City15Completed8 daysInternetCity 311
8/12/20264511 S EMERALD AVENew City15Completed1 dayMobile DeviceCity 311
8/31/20264511 S DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DRGrand Boulevard3Completed15 daysPhone CallCity 311
10/26/20264511 S DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DRGrand Boulevard3Open—Phone CallCity 311
3/3/20264511 S DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DRGrand Boulevard3Completed1 dayPhone CallCity 311
9/11/20254511 S DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DRGrand Boulevard3Completed7 daysPhone CallCity 311
11/13/20254511 S DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DRGrand Boulevard3Completed5 daysPhone CallCity 311
7/3/20264511 S DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DRGrand Boulevard3Completed7 daysPhone CallCity 311
1/6/20264511 S DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DRGrand Boulevard3Completed2 daysPhone CallCity 311
9/3/20264511 S DR MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DRGrand Boulevard3Completed5 daysPhone CallCity 311
7/13/20264511 N WHIPPLE STAlbany Park33Completed8 daysPhone CallCity 311
5/7/20264511 N RICHMOND STAlbany Park33Completed4 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
5/5/20264511 N MALDEN STUptown46Completed1 dayInternetCity 311
10/30/20254511 N FRANCISCO AVEAlbany Park33Completed5 daysInternetCity 311
9/23/20264511 N ARTESIAN AVELincoln Square47Completed13 daysPhone CallCity 311
8/4/20254511 N ALBANY AVEAlbany Park33Completed9 daysInternetCity 311
6/27/20264510 W MAYPOLE AVEWest Garfield Park28Completed4 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
9/17/20254510 W FIFTH AVEWest Garfield Park24Completed8 daysPhone CallCity 311
10/9/20254510 W 55TH STWest Elsdon23Completed11 daysInternetCity 311
8/19/20254510 S PAULINA STNew City15Completed6 daysInternetCity 311
5/11/20264510 S FRANCISCO AVEBrighton Park12Completed2 daysPhone CallCity 311
6/6/20264510 S DAMEN AVENew City12Completed4 daysInternetCity 311
4/17/20264510 S CALIFORNIA AVEBrighton Park12Completed5 daysPhone CallCity 311
Page 1024 of 2,370