Few guests are more unwelcome in a city than rats. And yet the rodents have made themselves at home in many urban areas of the U.S.
Recently, Orkin released its latest annual Top 50 Rattiest Cities List. The rankings are based on the cities that had the most new residential rodent treatments between Sept. 1, 2023, and Aug. 31, 2024.
Here are the cities with the most rats — including one metro that has topped the list for an entire decade.
How to spot a rat infestation
Before we get to the list, it might help to know how you can spot a rat infestation.
If you see rat droppings — particularly near food sources, in cabinets and along baseboards — you might have a problem. Another indicator of trouble is scratching or scurrying sounds, especially at night.
Rats will chew on anything they can find, so gnaw marks can signal an infestation. One overlooked sign is rub marks, which are left behind on baseboards and entry points thanks to the rats’ greasy fur.
How to avoid a rat infestation at home
To keep your home rat-free, seal any possible entry points, as rats need only a quarter-sized hole to burrow their way inside. Common entry points are windows, doors and pipes.
Rats look for food, so you can make your home less attractive by keeping food in containers and cleaning up crumbs and spills. Garbage should be kept in tightly sealed bins that do not have holes.
Clean up any debris outside the home that rats can use as sources of shelter. Fix leaks that can serve as sources of water.
Now, on to the list of cities with the most rats.
1. Chicago
Chicago is famous for its gleaming skyline, deep-dish pizza and Magnificent Mile. Now, you can add one less appealing icon to the list: rats.
For the 10th straight year, Chicago is the most rat-infested city in the U.S. The Windy City offers an irresistible environment for the rodents thanks to its many alleys, subway tracks and underground pipes.
The problem is so bad that Chicago has its own Bureau of Rodent Control.
As part of the effort to control rats, Chicago supplies more than 1.5 million plastic 96-gallon garbage carts for free to single-family residences and apartment buildings of up to four units. The carts have tight-fitted lids to keep garbage in and rats out.
2. Los Angeles
Rats — those little devils — have made themselves at home in the City of Angels.
Los Angeles has finished in the top three on Orkin’s list in every year since 2017. In 2019, it was reported that Los Angeles City Hall was facing a rat infestation. One of the pesky rodents even chewed its way through a pumpkin put out as a Halloween decoration there.
3. New York City
New York City also has made a regular appearance in Orkin’s top three since 2017. In September, the city hosted its first-ever summit devoted exclusively to the topic of ridding the city of rats.
The city now consults with Chicago officials in hopes of gleaning tips for how to keep rats on the run.
For now, rats continue to gnaw their way through the Big Apple and other parts of the state. In fact, New York has five cities on Orkin’s list, tops among the 50 states.
The rest of the top 10
Here are more cities that finished near the top of Orkin’s list:
- San Francisco
- Washington, D.C.
- Denver
- Philadelphia
- Detroit
- Baltimore
- Cleveland
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