The 50 'Rattiest' Cities in America

Regardless of where you live, you've likely seen at least one rat scurrying about. Be it through a barn in the country or away from an overstuffed trash bin on a city street, rats often set up shop alongside us humans. After all, we supply plenty of shelter and food for the rodents, so why wouldn't they follow us around?

This is especially true once autumn begins, according to Orkin, the pest control company. As the temperature drops, rats (and mice) seek places to ride out fall and winter in relative comfort and safety. This means buildings, like skyscrapers and homes, can become dens for rats. Indeed, per the National Pest Management Association, some 20 million rats invade homes every year.

"Rats and mice begin looking for warmer, more insulated places to get through the winter, and these too often happen to be our homes or businesses," said John Kane, entomologist and Technical Director of Orkin's Midwest Region.

Since fall marks the start of rodent season, Orkin releases a list of the top 50 "rattiest" cities in the U.S. based on the number of rodent treatments — residential and commercial — they perform from September of one year to September of the next.

Here are the cities that varmints favored between 2016 and 2017:

1. Chicago
2. New York
3. Los Angeles
4. San Francisco-Oakland
5. Washington, D.C.
6. Philadelphia
7. Detroit
8. Baltimore
9. Seattle-Tacoma
10. Dallas-Fort Worth
11. Denver
12. Minneapolis-St. Paul
13. Cleveland-Akron
14. Atlanta
15. Boston
16. Hartford-New Haven
17. Portland, Oregon
18. Miami-Ft. Lauderdale
19. Indianapolis
20. Houston
21. Milwaukee
22. Pittsburgh
23. New Orleans
24. Cincinnati
25. Richmond-Petersburg
26. Sacramento-Stockton
27. Kansas City
28. Charlotte
29. Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News
30. Buffalo
31. Columbus, Ohio
32. St. Louis
33. Raleigh-Durham
34. Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo
35. San Diego
36. Albany-Schenectady
37. San Antonio
38. Tampa-St. Petersburg
39. Rochester, New York
40. Nashville
41. Champaign-Springfield-Decatur
42. Greenville-Spartanburg
43. Memphis
44. Phoenix
45. Syracuse
46. West Palm Beach
47. Orlando-Daytona Beach
48. Madison
49. Flint-Saginaw
50. Green Bay-Appleton

Chicago has had the dubious honor of being the top city for three years running, and New York has clung to the No. 2 spot like it's a slice of pizza. New Orleans and Cincinnati saw the most gains in their rat problem compared to last year, jumping 15 and 10 spots, respectively. Some cities have gotten better however. Raleigh–Durham dropped 11 notches from where it landed on the list last year, while Albany–Schenectady and West Palm Beach both fell 10 spots from the previous year.

Perhaps in a sign that Orkin needs to step up its own game, the company's home city of Atlanta not only landed at No. 14 on the list this year, but it moved up two spots as well. It's just like that ancient Roman saying goes: Who watches the rat watchers?