2026-03-12 | data, rodents, violations, neighborhoods
The 2026 Chicago Rat Map
2,352 rodent citations across three years of inspection data
Chicago has a rat problem. Everyone knows this. What nobody talks about is how unevenly the rats distribute across the city's restaurants.
The health inspection database has 2,352 citations for rodent evidence since 2023. Mouse droppings, rat droppings, gnaw marks, nesting material, the occasional live sighting. The geographic pattern is not random. It's economic.
Chicago consistently ranks among the most rat-infested cities in the United States. The city received over 35,000 rat complaints in 2023 alone.
The Neighborhoods
Englewood: 216 citations. Way out in front. Garfield Park at 147, Austin at 137. The building stock is older, vacancy rates are higher, and the structural conditions that invite rodents are the hardest to control.
Beverly comes in fourth at 134. This one surprised me. Good restaurants, high homeownership, but aging commercial corridors with the kind of gaps and crawl spaces that mice don't need an invitation to enter. Chinatown rounds out the top five at 133.
Then there's the north side. Lincoln Park has 23 rodent citations over three years. Streeterville has 11. Same city. Different infrastructure. Different results.
| Rank | Neighborhood | Rodent Citations (3yr) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Englewood | 216 |
| 2 | Garfield Park | 147 |
| 3 | Austin | 137 |
| 4 | Beverly | 134 |
| 5 | Chinatown | 133 |
| 6 | South Chicago | 115 |
| 7 | Chatham | 112 |
| 8 | South Shore | 106 |
| 9 | Bridgeport | 95 |
| 10 | Albany Park | 90 |
Full rodent rankings | What is Code 33?
What Inspectors Actually Find
A typical citation reads: "Observed approximately 10 mouse droppings under shelving by mop sink area." Standard finding. Needs attention. Not an emergency.
Then there's Frank's Pizzeria on Belmont. Over 100 droppings throughout the establishment, including inside two ovens and a fryer. Or Fairplay Finer Foods on Western — approximately 125 droppings along the rear storage wall.
A few droppings near an exterior door is a building problem. A hundred droppings inside your cooking equipment is something else entirely. Both get Code 33.
A single pair of mice can produce up to 36,000 droppings per year. By the time droppings are visible during a routine inspection, the population is established.
Rodent evidence violation (Code 33)
Roaches Are a Different Map
Cockroach citations follow completely different geography. Chinatown leads at 96, Rogers Park at 57, Albany Park at 45. Roaches care about plumbing and density more than alleys and vacant lots.
Total roach count (909 since 2023) is lower than rodents (2,352). Partly because roaches are nocturnal and inspections happen during the day. Droppings persist. Roaches hide.
| Rank | Neighborhood | Roach Citations (3yr) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chinatown | 96 |
| 2 | Rogers Park | 57 |
| 3 | Albany Park | 45 |
| 4 | Garfield Park | 42 |
| 5 | Austin | 39 |
Cockroach violation (Code 38) | Full roach rankings
The same operator running the same procedures would get more citations in Englewood than in Lincoln Park. Pest control is a neighborhood problem that individual restaurants pay for individually. The rankings update as new inspections come in on the leaderboards page.
Search any restaurant's pest history | Chicago's dirtiest neighborhoods