Orkin, the best-known rodent and pest control company in America, just released their annual report of the ‘Most Rat-Infested Cites in America’ and this year’s list is a real who’s who of petulance. I lived in NYC for most of the last decade, most recently in SoHo, and seeing rats wasn’t just a daily occurrence but it was something that would happen almost hourly when I’d walk around my neighborhood. It became such a regular experience that my dog would stop trying to chase them when we’d go on walks at night because it happened every other minute.
So I’m not at all shocked to see that NYC’s coming in at #2 on this list…What is shocking is how many Florida cities are on the list because I live down in Florida now and haven’t seen one single rat since moving (though I’m not living in any of the listed cities):
1. Chicago
2. New York
3. Washington D.C.
4. Los Angeles
5. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
6. Baltimore
7. Philadelphia
8. Minneapolis-St. Paul
9. Detroit
10. Denver
11. Seattle-Tacoma
12. Boston
13. Miami-Ft. Lauderdale
14. Dallas-Ft. Worth
15. Cleveland
16. Atlanta
17. Hartford & New Haven, Conn.
18. Pittsburgh
19. Indianapolis
20. Portland, Ore.
21. Houston
22. Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
23. Milwaukee
24. Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News, Va.
25. Richmond-Petersburg, Va.
26. Albany-Schenectady-Troy, N.Y.
27. Charlotte, N.C.
28. St. Louis
29. Buffalo, N.Y.
30. Kansas City, Mo.
31. Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla.
32. Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto, Calif.
33. Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, Mich.
34. Cincinnati
35. Rochester, N.Y.
36. West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, Fla.
37. Columbus, Ohio
38. New Orleans, La.
39. Nashville, Tenn.
40. Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville, S.C.
41. Flint-Saginaw-Bay City, Mich.
42. Albuquerque-Santa Fe, N.M.
43. Portland-Auburn, Maine
44. Green Bay-Appleton, Wis.
45. Phoenix
46. Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne, Fla.
47. San Diego
48. Burlington-Plattsburgh, Vt.
49. Madison, Wis.
50. Salt Lake City
ATLANTA, Oct. 17, 2016 – As fall rolls in, pest control leader Orkin reminds homeowners to take precautions to help keep rodents out. Orkin released its Top 50 Rattiest Cities list today. Chicago topped the list again, after previously ranking first in 2014. The Midwest region had the greatest number of cities on the list, with 13 in the top 50.
Rodents are a prevalent problem across the United States. According to a recent survey commissioned by Orkin, 40% of people surveyed have had rodents present in their home at some point [1] .
Fall marks the start of rodent season. As the weather gets colder, unwanted pests like rats and mice seek out food, water and shelter to survive the winter.
NINE cities from Florida made the ‘top 50’, which is pretty chill if it’ll actually dissuade more people from moving to Florida and making this state even weirder, but I doubt it’ll have any effect whatsoever. Tampa, West Palm Beach, Ft. Pierce, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Orlando, Daytona Beach, Melbourne, and St. Petersburg. Orkin lumped many of these cities into the same category, which makes no sense given how far some of them are from each other, but I’m guessing it was just because Orkin sends the same pest control workers to these general regions. I’m here in sunny Sarasota where I was born and raised, and I’ve only seen a handful of rats in Sarasota throughout my entire life and all were on Siesta Key, so I guess I’m just heavily sheltered from Florida’s crippling rat problem.
If you’re wondering how this year’s list stacked up to previous years you can CLICK HERE!