RatCity — Chicago Rat and Rodent Sightings Map

RatCity

4385 locations in the last 30 days (4579 reports) · Last sighting 13 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

59,088 reports match your filters.

DateAddressNeighborhoodWardStatusResponse timeReported viaSource
9/24/20264800 W WASHINGTON BLVDAustin28Completed4 daysInternetCity 311
12/17/20254800 W WARWICK AVEPortage Park30Completed1 dayInternetCity 311
5/28/20264800 W VAN BUREN STAustin28Completed6 daysPhone CallCity 311
8/8/20254800 W RACE AVEAustin37Completed11 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
4/15/20264800 W MELROSE STPortage Park31Completed1 dayAlderman's OfficeCity 311
8/19/20264800 W HADDON AVEAustin37Completed14 daysPhone CallCity 311
7/9/20264800 W GEORGE STBelmont Cragin31Completed7 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
8/25/20264800 W EDDY STPortage Park31Completed14 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
8/11/20264800 W DEMING PLBelmont Cragin31Completed2 daysPhone CallCity 311
7/21/20254800 W BYRON STPortage Park45Completed11 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
11/6/20254800 W BLOOMINGDALE AVEAustin37Completed1 dayInternetCity 311
8/11/20264800 W BELDEN AVEBelmont Cragin31Completed10 daysPhone CallCity 311
8/11/20264800 W ALTGELD STBelmont Cragin31Completed10 daysPhone CallCity 311
6/29/20264800 S WOOD STNew City15Completed9 daysPhone CallCity 311
1/23/20264800 S WOOD STNew City15Completed3 daysPhone CallCity 311
1/23/20264800 S WOLCOTT AVENew City15Completed3 daysPhone CallCity 311
6/29/20264800 S WOLCOTT AVENew City15Completed7 daysPhone CallCity 311
6/29/20264800 S WINCHESTER AVENew City15Completed7 daysPhone CallCity 311
7/31/20264800 S WINCHESTER AVENew City15Completed20 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
1/23/20264800 S WINCHESTER AVENew City15Completed3 daysPhone CallCity 311
10/20/20264800 S WINCHESTER AVENew City15Completed15 daysInternetCity 311
3/23/20264800 S SPRINGFIELD AVEArcher Heights14Completed1 dayAlderman's OfficeCity 311
6/29/20264800 S SEELEY AVENew City15Completed7 daysPhone CallCity 311
1/23/20264800 S SEELEY AVENew City15Completed4 daysPhone CallCity 311
7/31/20264800 S SEELEY AVENew City15Completed19 daysAlderman's OfficeCity 311
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