RatCity — Chicago Rat and Rodent Sightings Map

RatCity

4495 locations in the last 30 days (4662 reports) · Last sighting 23 hours ago

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

52,821 reports match your filters.

DateAddressNeighborhoodWardStatusResponse timeReported viaSource
9/14/20264053 W 83RD STAshburn18Open—InternetCity 311
9/16/20262013 W ADDISON STNorth Center47Open—Mobile DeviceCity 311
9/15/20266500 S HERMITAGE AVEWest Englewood15Open—Phone CallCity 311
9/15/20266300 S WOLCOTT AVEWest Englewood16Open—Phone CallCity 311
9/14/2026465 W 28TH STBridgeport11Open—InternetCity 311
9/15/20265500 S HAMILTON AVEWest Englewood15Open—Phone CallCity 311
9/14/20263322 W MAYPOLE AVEEast Garfield Park28Open—Mobile DeviceCity 311
9/17/20263758 W SHAKESPEARE AVELogan Square35Open—Mobile DeviceCity 311
9/15/202651 E 98TH STRoseland9Open—Phone CallCity 311
9/15/20266640 N CALIFORNIA AVEWest Ridge50Open—InternetCity 311
9/14/20263518 W WALNUT STEast Garfield Park28Open—InternetCity 311
9/15/20264501 S EMERALD AVENew City15Open—Phone CallCity 311
9/15/20262301 W GARFIELD BLVDGage Park15Open—Alderman's OfficeCity 311
9/18/20261900 W WOLFRAM STNorth Center32Open—Phone CallCity 311
9/16/202611261 S MILLARD AVEMount Greenwood19Open—Phone CallCity 311
9/15/20262156 W SCHOOL STNorth Center32Open—Phone CallCity 311
9/15/20262613 W THOMAS STWest Town36Open—Phone CallCity 311
9/14/20263211 S PULASKI RDSouth Lawndale22Open—Phone CallCity 311
9/15/20265500 S CLAREMONT AVEGage Park15Open—Phone CallCity 311
9/15/20265600 S CLAREMONT AVEGage Park15Open—Alderman's OfficeCity 311
9/14/20262434 W POLK STNear West Side28Open—Phone CallCity 311
9/14/20266749 S ADA STWest Englewood17Open—Phone CallCity 311
9/15/20261701 W 63RD STWest Englewood15Open—Phone CallCity 311
9/15/20265700 S HONORE STWest Englewood15Open—Phone CallCity 311
9/22/20262441 W HADDON AVEWest Town36Open—InternetCity 311
Page 28 of 2,113