RatCity — Chicago Rat and Rodent Sightings Map

RatCity

4389 locations in the last 30 days (4544 reports) · Last sighting 23 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

53,341 reports match your filters.

DateAddressNeighborhoodWardStatusResponse timeReported viaSource
8/11/20264156 N BELL AVENorth Center47Completed15 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
4/10/20264519 N OAKLEY AVELincoln Square47Completed3 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
4/12/20262011 W BYRON STNorth Center47Completed1 dayInternetCity 311
4/10/20263855 N SEELEY AVENorth Center47Completed3 daysInternetCity 311
8/17/20262113 W WARNER AVENorth Center47Completed1 dayPhone CallCity 311
4/12/20262024 W BERTEAU AVENorth Center47Completed1 dayMobile DeviceCity 311
4/12/20262005 W BYRON STNorth Center47Completed1 dayInternetCity 311
7/9/20262143 W CULLOM AVENorth Center47Completed12 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
7/30/20261928 W BERENICE AVENorth Center47Completed12 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
2/22/20261906 W SUNNYSIDE AVELincoln Square47Completed1 dayInternetCity 311
4/10/20262009 W BYRON STNorth Center47Completed3 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
6/8/20264045 N DAMEN AVENorth Center47Completed4 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
7/13/20263453 N BOSWORTH AVELake View47Completed11 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
7/30/20261842 W BYRON STNorth Center47Completed12 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
6/23/20263455 N MARSHFIELD AVELake View47Completed2 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
8/12/20263835 N MARSHFIELD AVELake View47Completed6 daysPhone CallCity 311
7/27/20262431 W CUYLER AVENorth Center47Completed13 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
8/12/20262155 W WINDSOR AVELincoln Square47Completed14 daysInternetCity 311
9/2/20264725 N ASHLAND AVEUptown47Completed14 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
8/19/20264800 N DAMEN AVELincoln Square47Completed14 daysMobile DeviceCity 311
6/8/20263713 N PAULINA STLake View47Completed4 daysPhone CallCity 311
8/25/20253621 N PAULINA STLake View47Completed1 dayPhone CallCity 311
9/25/20261925 W WARNER AVENorth Center47Open—InternetCity 311
7/29/20261934 W EDDY STNorth Center47Completed12 daysInternetCity 311
6/7/20261916 W PATTERSON AVENorth Center47Completed5 daysInternetCity 311
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