New York City dodged the number one spot in a ranking of the top “rattiest” cities in America by pest control company Orkin.
RELATED: Rats 'take over' street, gross out neighbors
While the nation's most populous city has a reputation for hosting a bustling population of unwanted pests, the "rattiest" city in the United States is not New York City, whose mayor has publicly waged war on the rodents. That spot belongs to Chicago, according to pest control company Orkin.
The national chain ranked the top 50 most mice-and-rat-infested metropolitan regions nationwide based on the number of residential and commercial rodent removal jobs the company performed from Sept. 2021 to Aug. 2022. While it stops short of tallying actual rat populations, Orkin's rankings at the very least reveal which cities are keen on turning to professionals to solve their pest problems.
The new rankings dropped last week and revealed some reshuffling among 2021's top 10 rattiest cities. Chicago held onto its claim as the nation's rat capital for the eighth consecutive year, Orkin said. New York City came in as America's second rattiest city in 2022, trading spots with Los Angeles, which slid down to the third spot. Some cities made significant leaps in the rankings. South Bend, Indiana, for example, jumped 21 spots into the top 50. Orkin said the pandemic gave rise to outdoor dining structures that provided rodents "a perfect place to dine, live and multiply."
» Subscribe to USA TODAY:
» Watch more on this and other topics from USA TODAY:
» USA TODAY delivers current local and national news, sports, entertainment, finance, technology, and more through award-winning journalism, photos, videos and VR.
#NewYork #Chicago #Rats
What those are just some democRATS.