This Is the American City With the Biggest Rat Problem

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published Apr 8, 9:00AM EDT

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This Is the American City With the Biggest Rat Problem — © Victorburnside / Getty Images

There are two million rats in New York City, about one for every four people. Many carry pathogens that can cause serious disease in humans. The problem goes back well over a century, and perhaps much longer. Most scientists believe that, while the situation can be controlled, it cannot be eliminated.

However, according to the pest control company Orkin’s “Top 50 Rattiest Cities List” for 2021, it isn’t New York that has the most serious rodents to worry about. According to the list, Chicago is the American city with the biggest rat problem – for the seventh year in a row.

According to the study’s authors, “Orkin ranked metro regions by the number of new rodent treatments performed from September 15, 2020 to September 15, 2021. This ranking includes both residential and commercial treatments.”

It is hard to imagine that the number of treatments reveals the true number of rats. This is a major weakness with the study – but that does not mean it is entirely inaccurate. In terms of rat infestation, the Orkin study is the only yardstick that can offer data about the problem.

One of the observations of its researchers is almost certainly true. As people return to restaurants and do more food shopping as COVID-19 infections decrease, the rat population will rise. Ben Hottel, an Orkin entomologist, said: “As people resume normal activities, food availability [for the rats] will rise”. (These are 20 ways the pandemic has changed restaurants for good.)

Perhaps not surprisingly, the three cities with the biggest rat problems according to Orkin are the nation’s three largest. No. 1 Chicago is America’s third most populous city. The second, Los Angeles, ranks No. 2 on the list, with the country’s largest city, New York, placing No. 3. (These are America’s dirtiest cities.)

The relationship between population and rat infestation fades after the three largest cities. The huge cities in Texas are not in the top 10. Neither is Phoenix – though several old industrial cities are: Detroit, Cleveland, and Baltimore.

Click here to see the American cities with the biggest rat problems

Geography does not seem to matter, based on the Orkin data. Among the 50 most rat-infested cities, Tampa ranks at the bottom, followed by Albuquerque, then Dayton. The city that moved up the list the most in 2021 compared to the year-earlier is Portland, Oregon, which rose 26 places.

50. Tampa, FL
> Rank in 2020: 41

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49. Albuquerque, NM
> Rank in 2020: 48

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48. Dayton, OH
> Rank in 2020: 49

47. Charleston, WV
> Rank in 2020: 51

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46. Syracuse, NY
> Rank in 2020: 44

45. Green Bay, WI
> Rank in 2020: 45

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44. Greenville, SC
> Rank in 2020: 35

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43. Phoenix, AZ
> Rank in 2020: 32

42. Charlotte, NC
> Rank in 2020: 31

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41. Buffalo, NY
> Rank in 2020: 41

40. Louisville, KY
> Rank in 2020: 53

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39. Burlington, VA
> Rank in 2020: 47

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38. Portland, ME
> Rank in 2020: 64

37. Champaign, IL
> Rank in 2020: 39

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36. Nashville, TN
> Rank in 2020: 34

Raleigh, NC (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Sergey Galyonkin

35. Raleigh, NC
> Rank in 2020: 26

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Saginaw St., Flint, MI (CC BY 2.0) by Tony Faiola

34. Flint, MI
> Rank in 2020: 42

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33. New Orleans, LA
> Rank in 2020: 21

32. Grand Rapids, MI
> Rank in 2020: 29

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31. Albany, NY
> Rank in 2020: 38

St. Louis, MO (CC BY 2.0) by Paul Sableman

30. St. Louis, MO
> Rank in 2020: 37

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29. Sacramento, CA
> Rank in 2020: 36

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28. Richmond, VA
> Rank in 2020: 33

27. Norfolk, VA
> Rank in 2020: 25

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26. Columbus, OH
> Rank in 2020: 28

25. Kansas City, MO
> Rank in 2020: 30

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24. Portland, OR
> Rank in 2020: 23

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23. Miami, FL
> Rank in 2020: 20

22. Milwaukee, WI
> Rank in 2020: 24

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21. Hartford, CT
> Rank in 2020: 27

20. Dallas, TX
> Rank in 2020: 16

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19. Cincinnati, OH
> Rank in 2020: 22

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18. Houston, TX
> Rank in 2020: 17

17. San Diego, CA
> Rank in 2020: 19

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16. Pittsburgh, PA
> Rank in 2020: 18

15. Atlanta, GA
> Rank in 2020: 14

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14. Indianapolis, IN
> Rank in 2020: 15

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13. Boston, MA
> Rank in 2020: 13

12. Minneapolis, MN
> Rank in 2020: 10

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11. Seattle, WA
> Rank in 2020: 12

Cleveland, OH (CC BY 2.0) by Nicolas Henderson

10. Cleveland, OH
> Rank in 2020: 11

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Denver, CO (CC BY 2.0) by Pedro Lozano

9. Denver, CO
> Rank in 2020: 9

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8. Detroit, MI
> Rank in 2020: 6

Philadelphia, PA (CC BY 2.0) by ThatMakesThree

7. Philadelphia, PA
> Rank in 2020: 7

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6. Baltimore, MD
> Rank in 2020: 8

5. San Francisco, CA
> Rank in 2020: 5

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4. Washington, D.C.
> Rank in 2020: 4

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3. New York, NY
> Rank in 2020: 3

2. Los Angeles, CA
> Rank in 2020: 2

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1. Chicago, IL
> Rank in 2020: 1

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.