Chicago Is America’s ‘Rattiest City’ Once Again
We're not talking about rats who tell the Feds where the bribe money came from, or the inflatables that unions set up outside businesses that attract their ire.
We're talking about Norwegian rats, also known as common rats, street rats, sewer rats, water rats, Parisian rats, and/or wharf rats. Norwegian rats are thought to have come to the U.S. and other countries around the world aboard ships from Asia, beginning in the 1700s.
Well, wherever they've spread around the world aside, it would appear that the Windy City has the biggest proliferation problem.
A couple of days back, Orkin, America's best known pest exterminator, published their list of the "50 Rattiest Cities In America," and for the fifth consecutive time, Chicago takes the top spot. New to the Top 10 cities this year are Minneapolis and Atlanta, holding the eighth and tenth spots, respectively.
Orkin ranked metro regions by the number of new rodent treatments performed from September 15, 2018 to September 15, 2019. This ranking includes both residential and commercial treatments.
Here are Orkin's Top Ten Rattiest Cities in America:
- Chicago
- Los Angeles
- New York
- Washington, DC (Hagerstown)
- San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
- Detroit
- Cleveland-Akron (Canton) (+1)
- Minneapolis-St. Paul (+3)
- Philadelphia (-2)
- Atlanta (+5)