One would assume that NYC would be crowned the rattiest city in the U.S. After all, it’s home to a Rat Czar and a forthcoming rat birth control plan in 2025 that aims to get the ever-growing population under control. However, Orkin did a deep dive to uncover where the rodents run rampant, and in fact, NYC is the third rattiest city in the country. Imagine that!
The study, titled “Top 50 Rattiest Cities List,” has returned for its 10th consecutive year. Curious to know who beat out NYC for the top spots? It was none other than Chicago (so much for ranking as the best big city in the U.S—and no, we’re not still bitter!) and Los Angeles.
From 2023 to 2024, the top 10 slots remained fairly consistent with Chicago, LA, and NYC leading the pack, but Washington D.C. moved from fourth to fifth place, as San Fransisco creeped in the fourth slot, and Denver moved up two slots from number eight to six. Additionally, Detroit seemed to move up in rankings while Baltimore moved down. Overall, the top 10 spots are still occupied by the locales below.
Orkin gathered data by analyzing the number of new rodent services in each city to determine the current demand to treat rodent-related issues. For this year’s list, Orkin collected new services that popped up between September 1, 2023, to August 31, 2024. Both residential and commercial pest control treatments were considered in the study.
Although this isn’t the first rundown for New Yorkers on how to deal with rats, Orkin encourages residents to look for droppings, gnaw marks, nests, rub marks, and strange noises. We’d be remiss not to.
“Rodents can cause a lot of structural problems for property owners,” says John Kane, Orkin National Accounts Entomologist & Quality Manager. “They can get in around piping and even chew through walls. These tiny culprits tend to chew through wiring, which poses an increased risk of fires.”
For prevention efforts, they encourage people to store away food, declutter, maintain landscaping, inspect both the inside and outside of your home and search for possible entry points.
The top 10 rattiest cities in America
1. Chicago, Illinois
2. Los Angeles, California
3. New York City, New York
4. San Francisco, California
5. Washington, D.C.
6. Denver, Colorado
7. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
8. Detroit, Michigan
9. Baltimore, Maryland
10. Cleveland, Ohio
Find the full ranking on the Orkin website..