RatCity — Chicago Rat and Rodent Sightings Map

RatCity

4069 locations in the last 30 days (4251 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

59,447 reports match your filters.

DateAddressNeighborhoodWardStatusResponse timeReported viaSource
4/16/20263853 N JANSSEN AVELake View46Completed4 daysInternetCity 311
11/5/20253852 W MONROE STWest Garfield Park28Completed1 dayInternetCity 311
12/2/20253852 W 83RD STAshburn18Completed1 dayInternetCity 311
10/28/20253852 W 62ND STWest Lawn23Completed2 daysPhone CallCity 311
9/11/20263852 N SAWYER AVEIrving Park33Completed13 daysInternetCity 311
7/17/20263852 N PAULINA STLake View47Completed12 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
8/11/20253852 N HAMILTON AVENorth Center47Completed10 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
12/7/20253851 W 83RD STAshburn18Completed1 dayInternetCity 311
8/5/20263851 W 83RD STAshburn18Completed13 daysInternetCity 311
10/24/20253851 W 68TH STWest Lawn23Completed6 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
11/9/20253851 N ST LOUIS AVEIrving Park35Completed4 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
10/7/20253851 N ST LOUIS AVEIrving Park35Completed9 daysInternetCity 311
6/7/20263851 N NORA AVEDunning38Completed4 daysInternetCity 311
2/5/20263851 N LAKEWOOD AVELake View44Completed1 dayPhone CallCity 311
5/7/20263851 N LAKEWOOD AVELake View44Completed5 daysPhone CallCity 311
5/20/20263851 N LAKEWOOD AVELake View44Completed2 daysPhone CallCity 311
6/15/20263851 N LAKEWOOD AVELake View44Completed2 daysPhone CallCity 311
6/2/20263851 N LAKEWOOD AVELake View44Completed2 daysPhone CallCity 311
3/23/20263851 N LAKEWOOD AVELake View44Completed1 dayPhone CallCity 311
3/4/20263851 N LAKEWOOD AVELake View44Completed2 daysPhone CallCity 311
10/14/20263851 N LAKEWOOD AVELake View44Completed1 dayPhone CallCity 311
11/14/20253851 N LAKEWOOD AVELake View44Completed3 daysPhone CallCity 311
11/18/20253851 N LAKEWOOD AVELake View44Completed1 dayPhone CallCity 311
4/15/20263851 N LAKEWOOD AVELake View44Completed1 dayPhone CallCity 311
8/23/20263851 N LAKEWOOD AVELake View44Completed11 daysPhone CallCity 311
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