Washington, D.C. Logs the Most Rodent Complaints per Resident Among 12 US Cities, New Index Finds

New York City, often called the rat capital, ranks seventh. D.C. residents filed rodent reports at more than six times New York's rate in 2025.

DALLAS, TX, UNITED STATES, October 16, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- RodentExterminator.com today released the US Rodent Index, a city-by-city comparison of rodent complaints filed through local 311 systems. The index covers 12 cities and 106,831 rodent reports filed in 2025.

Washington, D.C. ranked first, with 240.5 reports for every 10,000 residents. Chicago came second at 157.7 and Baltimore third at 104.0. Kansas City had the lowest rate in the index at 9.1, which puts D.C. about 26 times higher.

New York City filed 31,312 rodent reports in 2025, the second-highest total after Chicago. Spread across more than 8 million residents, that works out to 36.5 reports per 10,000 people, seventh of the 12 cities. New York's count also fell 21.2% from 39,726 in 2024.

New Orleans moved the other way. Reports there rose 48.6%, from 288 in 2024 to 428 in 2025.

2025 rodent reports per 10,000 residents:
1. Washington, D.C.: 240.5
2. Chicago: 157.7
3. Baltimore: 104.0
4. Boston: 77.6
5. Somerville, Mass.: 73.0
6. Cambridge, Mass.: 38.6
7. New York City: 36.5
8. Detroit: 27.4
9. Cincinnati: 17.4
10. Norfolk, Va.: 12.1
11. New Orleans: 11.8
12. Kansas City, Mo.: 9.1

Complaints follow the seasons. Chicago's busiest month was July 2025, when residents filed 5,828 rodent reports.

"People usually call 311 when they see rats in the alley or droppings in the kitchen," said a spokesperson for RodentExterminator.com. "The index lets anyone see how their city compares and how complaints change through the year."

The index counts reports, not rodents. A high rate can mean more rodents, but it can also mean a city makes reporting easy or its residents are quick to call. Cities also define rodent complaints differently, so the index works best for spotting trends within a city and broad differences between them.

Each city has its own page with monthly counts and year-over-year changes. The full index, charts and city pages are at https://rodentexterminator.com/research/us-rodent-index

METHODOLOGY
Report counts come from each city's public 311 service request records for complete years 2023 through 2025, with data checked through August 31, 2026. Population figures come from US Census Bureau Vintage 2025 estimates. The full method is at https://rodentexterminator.com/research/us-rodent-index/methodology

Reporters and researchers may use the data and charts with credit to RodentExterminator.com. Media resources are at https://rodentexterminator.com/research/us-rodent-index/media

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