Finding 1
Chicago recorded 4.3 times as many municipal rodent reports per 10,000 residents as New York City in 2025: 157.7 compared with 36.5.
RodentExterminator.com Research · National index
US Rodent Infestation Index
A population-normalized comparison of municipal rodent-related 311 reports—not a count of rats or mice—in New York City, Chicago, and Boston.
Chicago recorded 4.3 times as many municipal rodent reports per 10,000 residents as New York City in 2025: 157.7 compared with 36.5.
- Latest complete data year
- 2025
- January–December
- Participating cities
- 3
- Fixed comparison cohort
- Municipal reports
- 79,620
- Combined 2025 total, not nationwide
- Last updated
- Source retrieval dates vary by city
Sources: official municipal 311 reports from New York City, Chicago, Boston; U.S. Census Bureau population estimates. Reporting definitions differ. Read the methodology.
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Key findings
Directly calculated from the source records. Please keep the reporting caveat when quoting a comparison.
Finding 2
Chicago had the highest rate among participating cities in 2025: 157.7 reports per 10,000 residents. City reporting definitions differ.
Finding 3
Boston recorded the largest increase among comparable participating cities: 4.2% from 2024 to 2025.
Finding 4
New York City recorded the largest decrease among comparable participating cities: 21.2% from 2024 to 2025. Fewer reports do not establish fewer rodents.
Finding 5
Chicago's highest monthly total in 2025 was 5,828 reports in July. Reporting season is not necessarily rodent breeding season.
Finding 6
The 3 participating cities recorded 79,620 rodent-related municipal reports in 2025. This is a participating-city total, not a nationwide estimate.
Comparative headline findings require a complete city-year, a finite positive population and at least 100 reports in each compared period. This conservative presentation threshold does not change the source snapshot.
Explore the data
Participating-city leaderboard
Default ranking: reports per 10,000 residents. Filters apply to this table only. Charts below show 2025, the latest common complete year. Different reporting systems limit city-to-city comparisons.
Rankings reflect reported municipal rodent activity, not an estimated rat population. Only complete January–December city-years are ranked.
3 cities · 2025 · Ranked by reports per 10,000 residents (descending)
| Rank | Coverage status | Source retrieved | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chicago | IL | 2025 | 43,083 | 157.7 | -3.3% | July | Chicago 311 Service Requests | Complete Jan–Dec 2025 | 2026-09-29 |
| 2 | Boston | MA | 2025 | 5,225 | 77.6 | +4.2% | August | Boston 311 Service Requests - 2025 | Complete Jan–Dec 2025 | 2026-09-29 |
| 3 | New York City | NY | 2025 | 31,312 | 36.5 | -21.2% | June | New York City 311 Service Requests | Complete Jan–Dec 2025 | 2026-09-29 |
#1ChicagoIL157.7reports / 10k-3.3%YoY
- Complete year
- 2025
- Rodent reports
- 43,083
- Peak month
- July
- Coverage
- Complete, Jan–Dec 2025
- Data source
- Chicago 311 Service Requests
- Source retrieved
- 2026-09-29
#2BostonMA77.6reports / 10k+4.2%YoY
- Complete year
- 2025
- Rodent reports
- 5,225
- Peak month
- August
- Coverage
- Complete, Jan–Dec 2025
- Data source
- Boston 311 Service Requests - 2025
- Source retrieved
- 2026-09-29
#3New York CityNY36.5reports / 10k-21.2%YoY
- Complete year
- 2025
- Rodent reports
- 31,312
- Peak month
- June
- Coverage
- Complete, Jan–Dec 2025
- Data source
- New York City 311 Service Requests
- Source retrieved
- 2026-09-29
Rates use Census city populations for the same year, Vintage 2025. A low report count does not establish low infestation risk. The snapshot also includes partial records after 2025; those records are disclosed in the methodology and excluded from every leaderboard ranking.
Reported activity, mapped
Participating cities across the US
2025 municipal reports per 10,000 residents. Coverage is limited to participating cities and is not representative of every US city.
Darker, larger markers mean more reports per 10,000 residents. Labels show the rate. Contiguous US basemap. Tap a city or focus a marker for details.
Select a city. All values are also in the leaderboard above.
Geography: U.S. Census Bureau, via US Atlas. Sources: municipal 311 data and Census population estimates, 2025.
Charts and underlying tables
Report rates, changes, seasonality and history
Every graphic includes its period, axes, contributing municipal and population sources, snapshot date, methodology, accessible table, PNG control and the applicable CSV permission status.
Reports per resident, 2025
Ranked by reported activity per resident across 3 participating cities, not by rodent population. City reporting categories differ.
Timeframe: 2025. Last updated 2026-09-29. Axes: Participating city; Reports per 10,000 residents. Underlying sources: New York City 311 Service Requests · Chicago 311 Service Requests · Boston 311 Service Requests - 2026 · Boston 311 Service Requests - 2025 · Boston 311 Service Requests - 2024 · Boston 311 Service Requests - 2023 · U.S. Census Bureau population estimates · U.S. Census Bureau population estimates · U.S. Census Bureau population estimates. Methodology. Data: RodentExterminator.com US Rodent Index.
View accessible data table: Reports per resident, 2025
| City / year | Reports per 10,000 residents |
|---|---|
| Chicago | 157.7 |
| Boston | 77.6 |
| New York City | 36.5 |
CSV held pending source reuse verification
Year-over-year report changes, 2025
Changes in each city’s own report total from the previous full year. A change in reporting is not proof of a change in rodent prevalence.
Timeframe: 2025. Last updated 2026-09-29. Axes: Participating city; Year-over-year change (%). Underlying sources: New York City 311 Service Requests · Chicago 311 Service Requests · Boston 311 Service Requests - 2026 · Boston 311 Service Requests - 2025 · Boston 311 Service Requests - 2024 · Boston 311 Service Requests - 2023 · U.S. Census Bureau population estimates · U.S. Census Bureau population estimates · U.S. Census Bureau population estimates. Methodology. Data: RodentExterminator.com US Rodent Index.
View accessible data table: Year-over-year report changes, 2025
| City / year | Change (%) |
|---|---|
| New York City | -21.2 |
| Chicago | -3.3 |
| Boston | 4.2 |
CSV held pending source reuse verification
When reports were filed, 2025
Monthly report totals for the same participating cities. Larger cities contribute more to this sum.
Timeframe: 2025. Last updated 2026-09-29. Axes: Month; Municipal reports. Underlying sources: New York City 311 Service Requests · Chicago 311 Service Requests · Boston 311 Service Requests - 2026 · Boston 311 Service Requests - 2025 · Boston 311 Service Requests - 2024 · Boston 311 Service Requests - 2023 · U.S. Census Bureau population estimates · U.S. Census Bureau population estimates · U.S. Census Bureau population estimates. Methodology. Data: RodentExterminator.com US Rodent Index.
View accessible data table: When reports were filed, 2025
| Month | Reports |
|---|---|
| Jan | 4,437 |
| Feb | 4,253 |
| Mar | 5,922 |
| Apr | 6,521 |
| May | 7,677 |
| Jun | 8,926 |
| Jul | 10,155 |
| Aug | 9,327 |
| Sep | 8,379 |
| Oct | 6,606 |
| Nov | 4,454 |
| Dec | 2,963 |
CSV held pending source reuse verification
Reported activity over time
Total reports from a fixed cohort of participating cities with common full-year coverage. Not an estimate for the United States.
Timeframe: 2023–2025. Last updated 2026-09-29. Axes: Complete calendar year; Municipal reports. Underlying sources: New York City 311 Service Requests · Chicago 311 Service Requests · Boston 311 Service Requests - 2026 · Boston 311 Service Requests - 2025 · Boston 311 Service Requests - 2024 · Boston 311 Service Requests - 2023 · U.S. Census Bureau population estimates · U.S. Census Bureau population estimates · U.S. Census Bureau population estimates. Methodology. Data: RodentExterminator.com US Rodent Index.
View accessible data table: Reported activity over time
| City / year | Reports |
|---|---|
| 2023 | 92,801 |
| 2024 | 89,299 |
| 2025 | 79,620 |
CSV held pending source reuse verification
Compare Cities
Compare only shared complete years. Rates use each city’s same-year population.
Chicago's municipal report rate was 4.3 times New York City's in 2025. This compares reports, not measured rodent populations; city definitions and reporting behavior differ.
| City | Total reports | Reports / 10k | Population | YoY change | Peak month | Source coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago, IL | 43,083 | 157.7 | 2,731,585 | -3.3% vs. 2024 | July | 2023-01-01 to 2026-09-01 (end exclusive) Chicago 311 Service Requests |
| New York City, NY | 31,312 | 36.5 | 8,584,629 | -21.2% vs. 2024 | June | 2023-01-01 to 2026-09-01 (end exclusive) New York City 311 Service Requests |
Common complete-year report-rate trend
View accessible trend data
| Year | Chicago reports / 10k | New York City reports / 10k |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 174.6 | 49.5 |
| 2024 | 163.4 | 46.2 |
| 2025 | 157.7 | 36.5 |
Underlying annual CSVs: Chicago CSV; New York City: redistribution not cleared.
Sources: Chicago 311 Service Requests (2023-01-01 to 2026-09-01 (end exclusive), retrieved 2026-09-29); New York City 311 Service Requests (2023-01-01 to 2026-09-01 (end exclusive), retrieved 2026-09-29). Population denominators: U.S. Census Bureau. Snapshot updated 2026-09-29. Methodology.
Have a rodent problem rather than a data question? Learn about sealing rodent entry points.
Editorial starting points
Story Ideas From the Data
These angles describe measured patterns. The source data cannot explain why a report rate or total changed.
The per-capita leader
Examine why Chicago recorded 157.7 reports per 10,000 residents in 2025—while treating reporting-system differences as context, not a cause.
Compare rates →The largest annual rise
Boston changed by +4.2% from 2024 to 2025. The data can show the movement, but not explain why it happened.
Inspect annual changes →The largest annual fall
New York City changed by -21.2% from 2024 to 2025. Check source and reporting context before interpreting the decline.
Inspect annual changes →When reports peaked
Chicago's 2025 monthly high was 5,828 reports in July. Compare the month pattern without presenting it as a breeding-season measure.
Open Chicago monthly data →The rate gap between cities
The highest participating-city rate was 4.3 times the lowest in 2025. That is a report-rate comparison, not an infestation or cleanliness ranking.
Compare cities →Local data and reporting context
Explore Rodent Data by City
New York City, NY
- Complete year
- 2025
- Reports / 10k
- 36.5
- YoY change
- -21.2%
Chicago, IL
- Complete year
- 2025
- Reports / 10k
- 157.7
- YoY change
- -3.3%
Boston, MA
- Complete year
- 2025
- Reports / 10k
- 77.6
- YoY change
- +4.2%
Scope and definitions
About the data
We aggregate exact configured municipal 311 categories by request date, deduplicate records, restrict rankings to complete calendar years and divide report totals by same-year Census city population estimates. City definitions, systems and reporting behavior differ, so these are reported-activity comparisons—not nationwide prevalence estimates.
Publisher graphics
Download clean PNGs with the reporting period, source, update date and interpretation note embedded in the image.
2025 participating-city leaderboard
Municipal rodent reports per 10,000 residents
Chicago · 157.7
1. Chicago: 157.7 reports per 10,000. 2. Boston: 77.6 reports per 10,000. 3. New York City: 36.5 reports per 10,000
Rankings reflect reported municipal rodent activity, not an estimated rat population.
Source: Municipal 311: Chicago, Boston, New York City; U.S. Census Bureau population estimates. · Updated 2026-09-29
Top finding · 2025
Chicago had the highest participating-city report rate
157.7 per 10,000
43,083 reports and 2,731,585 residents in the complete 2025 comparison.
City definitions and reporting behavior differ; reports are not measured rodent populations.
Source: Municipal 311: Chicago; U.S. Census Bureau population estimates. · Updated 2026-09-29
2024–2025 year over year
New York City recorded the largest decrease
-21.2%
New York City: -21.2%. Chicago: -3.3%. Boston: +4.2% Reports, 2024 to 2025.
A change in reports does not prove a change in rodent prevalence or explain causation.
Source: Municipal 311: New York City, Chicago, Boston. · Updated 2026-09-29
Open to scrutiny
Using this data
You may quote our analysis and reproduce our original charts with attribution. Include the reporting caveat and link to this research page and its methodology. Original government datasets retain their own terms. No government endorsement is implied.
Last retrieved: . Coverage: 2023-01-01 through 2026-08-31. Rankings use complete years only.
Combined CSV redistribution is held until every included source’s reuse terms are verified. Source links and permitted city downloads remain available.
Methodology & provenancePublisher resources and citation guidance · Questions or corrections