RatCity — Chicago Rat and Rodent Sightings Map

RatCity

43008 locations in the last year (44138 reports) · Last sighting 24 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.

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
11/1/20262728 W MELROSE STAvondale35Open—InternetCity 311
11/1/20262404 W SUPERIOR STWest Town36Open—InternetCity 311
11/1/20262404 W SUPERIOR STWest Town36Open—Mobile DeviceCity 311
11/1/20263309 N SHEFFIELD AVELake View44Open—InternetCity 311
11/1/20262208 W CULLOM AVENorth Center47Open—InternetCity 311
11/1/20262904 N AVERS AVEAvondale31Open—Mobile DeviceCity 311
11/1/20265649 W BYRON STPortage Park38Open—InternetCity 311
11/1/20262546 W 110TH PLMorgan Park19Open—Mobile DeviceCity 311
11/1/20262818 W DICKENS AVELogan Square1Open—Mobile DeviceCity 311
11/1/202610904 S CENTRAL PARK AVEMount Greenwood19Open—InternetCity 311
11/1/20262663 N LINCOLN AVELincoln Park43Open—Mobile DeviceCity 311
11/1/20265504 N MELVINA AVEJefferson Park45Open—InternetCity 311
11/1/2026916 W 18TH PLLower West Side25Open—Mobile DeviceCity 311
11/1/20265512 N MELVINA AVEJefferson Park45Open—InternetCity 311
11/1/20265842 W PATTERSON AVEPortage Park38Open—InternetCity 311
11/1/20266466 N SAYRE AVENorwood Park41Completed4 daysInternetCity 311
11/1/20265749 S RICHMOND STGage Park15Completed2 daysInternetCity 311
11/1/20266645 S RICHMOND STChicago Lawn15Completed2 daysInternetCity 311
11/1/20266641 S RICHMOND STChicago Lawn15Completed2 daysInternetCity 311
11/1/20262540 W PENSACOLA AVENorth Center47Open—Mobile DeviceCity 311
11/1/2026962 W MONTANA STLincoln Park43Open—InternetCity 311
11/1/20262924 W MARQUETTE RDChicago Lawn15Open—InternetCity 311
11/1/20266044 S VERNON AVEWoodlawn20Completed3 daysInternetCity 311
11/1/20261952 W ARMITAGE AVELogan Square32Open—Phone CallCity 311
11/1/20262937 N ALBANY AVEAvondale35Open—Mobile DeviceCity 311
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