Chicago Is Rats' Most Beloved City In US, Yet Another Study Shows

CHICAGO, IL — Chicago has again been dubbed the "rat capital" of the United States by a recent study, and Chicagoans aren't happy about it — they also racked up the greatest number of rat complaints, the report shows. RentHop collected rodent complaint data from from 2014 to 2017, and found that Chicago had the highest number of total rat complaints year-round, followed by New York City, Washington, D.C. and then Boston.

When comparing the number of complaints per 100,000 residents, Chicago topped the list with around 1,876 complaints per 100,000 residents, the study shows.

Residents in Logan Square, Englewood and West Ridge complained the most, according to the report. Printers Row, Riverdale and Oakland were the neighborhoods with the lowest volume of rat complaints, the study shows.

"Most of the neighborhoods with a higher concentration of rat complaints coincide with the neighborhoods with a higher concentration of dog poop," the study noted.

Neighborhoods in downtown Chicago, such as The Loop, Gold Coast and River North, have far fewer rat complaints than the other neighborhoods, according to RentHop.

The study also noted there was a "weak correlation" between the rat complaint counts and median rents in Chicago.

Last year, Chicago earned the dubious distinction of rattiest U.S. city by Orkin for a third year.

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