Walk down any alley in Lincoln Park or Logan Square after the sun dips behind the skyline, and you’ll hear it. That distinct, rhythmic skittering. It’s the sound of Chicago's unofficial mascot. Honestly, if you live here, you've probably stopped jumping when a grey blur streaks past your boots. You just keep walking. It's Chicago.
But lately, the conversation around the Chicago PD number of rats—and no, we aren't talking about police informants here, but the actual four-legged rodents—has reached a boiling point. People are frustrated. For nine years running, pest control giant Orkin has crowned Chicago the "Rattiest City in America." That isn't just a quirky stat for a local news segment; it’s a genuine public health nightmare that the Chicago Police Department and City Hall have to navigate as part of the city's broader infrastructure and safety challenges.
The numbers are staggering. In a single year, the city's 311 system often logs upwards of 50,000 rodent complaints. Think about that. That's nearly 140 calls every single day from residents watching their trash cans get turned into a buffet.
The Reality Behind the Chicago PD Number of Rats
When people search for the "Chicago PD number of rats," there’s often a bit of confusion. Are we talking about the literal population, or is this a slang term for the internal affairs investigations within the department? While the department has its own internal struggles with "rats" or whistleblowers—most notably the historic cases surrounding the "Thin Blue Line"—the physical rodent problem is what’s actually keeping the city's Bureau of Rodent Control and the police-adjacent neighborhood safety units busy.
Chicago is a grid city. It’s beautiful, sure, but those alleys? They are a rat's version of a five-star resort. We have more alleys than almost any other major U.S. city. This creates a perfect, protected highway system for Rattus norvegicus, the brown rat. They don't have to cross open streets where hawks or cars can get them. They just stay in the shadows of the brick.
Bobby Corrigan, arguably the world’s leading "rodentologist," has often pointed out that counting rats is almost impossible. You can't just line them up for a census. However, estimates for the city population vary wildly, with some data scientists suggesting there are as many as five to ten rats for every human inhabitant in certain high-density wards. If you do the math on Chicago's 2.6 million people, that's a terrifying number.
Why the Police Actually Care
You might wonder why the police even care about rats. Isn't that a sanitation issue? Well, it’s about "Broken Windows Theory." When a neighborhood looks neglected—when trash is overflowing and rats are bold enough to run across sidewalks in broad daylight—it signals a lack of oversight. Residents stop feeling safe. Property values dip. Crime often follows the trail of urban decay.
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The Chicago Police Department (CPD) frequently coordinates with the Department of Streets and Sanitation. When officers are patrolling high-crime areas, they aren't just looking for illicit activity; they are reporting illegal dumping. Illegal dumping is the fuel for the rat fire. A couch left in an alley isn't just an eyesore; it’s a luxury apartment complex for a rat colony.
The Infrastructure of an Infestation
Chicago's dirt. It’s soft. The city sits on what was essentially a swamp. This makes it incredibly easy for rats to burrow under the concrete slabs of garages.
I remember talking to a guy in West Town who found a hole in his backyard that went down three feet. He filled it with gravel. The next morning? The gravel was pushed out like a tiny volcano. They are persistent.
- The Alley System: Over 1,900 miles of alleys.
- The Food Source: High-density restaurant corridors like those in the West Loop.
- The Climate: Our winters are getting milder. Usually, a deep freeze kills off the weaker members of a colony. Lately, we haven't had the sustained "polar vortex" weeks needed to cull the population.
There’s also the "Rat Hole" phenomenon—that viral imprint in a Roscoe Village sidewalk that became a literal pilgrimage site for a few weeks. It was funny on TikTok, but for the neighbors, it was a reminder that the ground beneath them is basically a Swiss cheese of tunnels.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Numbers
A common misconception is that the "rattiest city" title means Chicago has the most rats. Not necessarily. Orkin's rankings are based on the number of new pest control service calls. It means Chicagoans are the most proactive about trying to kill them. It also means we have a very vocal population that uses the 311 app.
In places like New York, people have almost surrendered. In Chicago, we still fight. We still call. That reflects in the Chicago PD number of rats data because those calls often trigger city inspections that overlap with police-monitored "nuisance properties."
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The War Effort: From Dry Ice to Sterilization
The city has tried everything. For a while, the "War on Rats" involved dry ice. You drop it into a burrow, it sublimates into carbon dioxide, and the rats fall asleep and don't wake up. It’s humane-ish and doesn't poison the neighborhood dogs. But it’s labor-intensive.
Then you have the private sector. Groups like TreeHouse Humane Society have the "Cats at Work" program. They take feral cats that can't be socialized as pets, neuter them, and "employ" them at businesses or homes with rat problems. The irony? The cats don't even have to kill the rats. The pheromones in cat urine are enough to make the rats pack up and move to the next block. It's biological warfare, and it works.
The Impact on Public Health
We can't ignore the "ick" factor, but the health risks are real. Leptospirosis is the big one. It’s a bacterial disease spread through rat urine. In recent years, Chicago has seen spikes in "lepto" cases among pet dogs. Your dog sniffs a puddle in a dark alley, and suddenly you're looking at a $5,000 vet bill or worse.
There's also the psychological toll. Living in a "rat zone" creates chronic stress. You can't use your back deck. You're afraid to let your kids play in the yard. This is why the city's response—or lack thereof—becomes a massive political issue during every mayoral election.
How to Protect Your Own Perimeter
If you're living in the middle of this, you can't wait for City Hall to fix it. You have to be a bit of a hard-nose about your own property.
First, get the "heavy duty" trash cans. The plastic ones the city provides are okay, but a determined rat can chew through that plastic in one night if they smell a chicken carcass. Look for the chew marks around the base of your bin. If you see them, that bin is compromised.
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Second, stop the "bird feeding." Honestly, just stop. You think you're helping the cardinals, but 50% of that seed ends up on the ground. That is rat granola. It’s high-calorie, easy-to-access fuel that allows them to breed faster. A single pair of rats can lead to 1,250 descendants in one year. Every sunflower seed counts.
Third, look at your foundation. If there's a crack big enough for a quarter to fit through, a young rat can squeeze in. Use steel wool and caulk. They can't chew through the steel.
Moving Forward in the Windy City
The Chicago PD number of rats is a metric of urban friction. As the city grows and construction kicks up old colonies, the sightings will fluctuate. We are currently seeing a massive shift in rodent behavior due to the changing ways we handle restaurant waste and the increased density of neighborhoods like Fulton Market.
The city has increased the budget for the Department of Streets and Sanitation's rodent control bureau, but the consensus among experts is that we are playing a game of whack-a-mole. Until the city's aging brick sewer system is fully addressed—a multi-billion dollar headache—the rats will always have a basement to retreat to.
Actionable Steps for Chicago Residents
To actually make a dent in the local population and protect your home, follow these specific protocols:
- Audit your "Rat Geometry": Walk the perimeter of your home. Look for "runways"—greasy dark marks along the base of walls where rat fur has rubbed against the brick. If you see these, you have an active trail.
- Seal with Hardware Cloth: If you have a deck, don't just leave the space underneath open. Use 1/4-inch galvanized hardware cloth (wire mesh) and bury it at least 12 inches into the ground. This prevents them from nesting under your outdoor space.
- Manage Your 311 Expectations: Don't just call once. The city prioritizes blocks with the highest volume of unique callers. Get your neighbors to all report the same alley on the CHI311 app. Volume gets the bait trucks sent out faster.
- Eliminate Standing Water: Rats need a water source. Fix that leaky outdoor spigot or the clogged gutter that pools water in the alley. If they can't drink, they won't stay.
- Professional Reinforcement: If you’re seeing rats during the day, the colony is overpopulated and they are getting desperate. Skip the hardware store traps and call a pro who uses enclosed bait stations.
The rat problem in Chicago isn't going away, but it is manageable. Stay vigilant, keep your lids tight, and remember: in this city, the rats are paying rent in the shadows—don't make it easy for them to move into your living room.