Chicago reaches 1 decade as America's most rat-infested city
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago is keeping a crown it would rather not have. For the 10th year in a row, Chicago was ranked as the rattiest city in America by pest control company Orkin.
The Windy City has held the title as the rattiest city in America since Orkin first created the list.
Orkin said the city's years-long struggle with rats is driven largely by its infrastructure and environment:
"Chicago's abundance of alleys provides rodents with hidden havens, offering plenty of space to hide while feasting on trash. Rodents also love to burrow, finding shelter beneath subway tracks or around underground pipes. In these hidden spots, the rodent population can grow if left unchecked."
Orkin ranked metro regions by the number of new residential rodent treatments performed between Sept. 1, 2023, and Aug. 31, 2024.
Los Angeles was ranked the second rattiest city in the nation, with New York coming in third. The two cities have been among the top three rattiest cities in the U.S. since 2017.
The top 50 rattiest cities according to Orkin are:
- Chicago, Ill.
- Los Angeles, Calif.
- New York, N.Y.
- San Francisco, Cali.
- Washington, D.C.
- Denver, Colo.
- Philadelphia, Pa.
- Detroit, Mich.
- Baltimore, Md.
- Cleveland, Ohio
- Minneapolis, Minn.
- Boston, Mass.
- Hartford, Conn.
- Seattle, Wash.
- Indianapolis, Ind.
- Atlanta, Ga.
- Columbus, Ohio
- San Diego, Calif.
- Milwaukee, Wis.
- Sacramento, Calif.
- Pittsburgh, Pa.
- Dallas, Texas
- Miami, Fla.
- Norfolk, Va.
- Houston, Texas
- Charlotte, N.C.
- Grand Rapids, Mich.
- Raleigh, N.C.
- Honolulu, Hawaii
- Albuquerque, N.M.
- Albany, N.Y.
- Phoenix, Az.
- Greenville, S.C.
- Cincinnati, Ohio
- Tampa, Fla.
- Nashville, Tenn.
- Richmond, Va.
- Portland, Ore.
- Orlando, Fla.
- New Orleans, La.
- Buffalo, N.Y.
- Flint, Mich.
- Rochester, N.Y.
- Champaign, Ill.
- Kansas City, Mo.
- Burlington, Vt.
- Oklahoma City, Okla.
- Syracuse, N.Y.
- Charleston, W.Va.
- Greensboro, S.C.
Chicago's relationship with rats goes back decades. Famously, in 1994, after the city shut down several restaurants for health code violations, Mayor Richard M. Daley famously said:
"I thought the health of people is very important. If a rat is on your sandwich, you hope to know it before. If a mouse is on your salad, it's common sense."
In 2021, CBS 2 burrowed through public records and discovered a record-breaking 53,000 rat complaints through October. That set a record for rat complaints, with two months left in the year.