There are some titles that U.S. cities really want to compete for: best restaurants, most walkable, best place to visit in the winter, best place to visit in the summer. There are other titles though, that U.S. cities are really vying not to receive. One of those is definitely Orkin’s naming of America’s Rattiest City.
For the last 10 years, the city bearing that burden has been Chicago. But for the first time in a decade, a new city has been crowned the most rat-infested city. To determine which city is most rat-infested this year, Orkin reported that it tracked which city had the most “new rodent services in owner-occupied residences from Aug. 20, 2024, to Aug. 21, 2025.”
Based on this data, Los Angeles has been named the “Rattiest City in America.”
In the complete list of the 50 most, four different cities in California were actually represented: Los Angeles in the top spot, San Francisco at No. 4, Sacramento at No. 19, and San Diego at No. 24.
Chicago didn’t do much better this year: it only moved down to the No. 2 spot on the list. Orkin reports that though it is no longer the worst for rats, the midwest gem “continues to battle high levels of rodent activity across its dense urban landscape.”
Beyond the general icky vibes that rats have, they also pose a huge structural problem. “Rats and mice are more than a nuisance—they’re opportunists,” Ian Williams, an Orkin entomologist, said in a release obtained by Travel + Leisure. “If there’s food, warmth and a way in, they’ll find it. And once inside, their constant chewing and rapid reproduction can quickly turn a small issue into a large, expensive one.”
While this isn’t exactly the type of wanderlust news that makes you want to book a flight to one of these “rattiest” cities any time soon, don’t let it completely dissuade you. Anywhere where there’s food and infrastructure, there’ll be rodents. “Rodents are highly adaptive and are drawn to the same resources humans need: shelter, food and water,” Orkin’s report explains. “They thrive in moderate weather, which increases their chances of survival and supports ongoing population growth. Meanwhile, urban sprawl continues to create new access points and opportunities for infestation.”
And sometimes, a few unwelcome fuzzy friends (foes?) are worth the price for unforgettable meals, stunning architecture, and epicenters of culture. These are the top 10 cities for rat infestations in the United States in 2025:
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