Orkin has released its annual list of the nation’s rattiest cities, and Atlanta jumped five spots to place No. 10 on the list.
For the third straight year, Chicago takes the top spot on the Atlanta-based pest company’s list.
Orkin ranked the cities by the number of rodent treatments the company performed from Sept. 15, 2018, to Sept. 15, 2019. The list includes residential and commercial treatments.
Fall is the start of rodent season. As weather gets colder, rats and mice seek food, water and shelter to survive the winter. More than 20 million rodents invade homes each year, according to the National Pest Management Association.
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“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, Orkin entomologist. “Rodents like to chew on wood and electrical wires, increasing the fire danger behind your walls and potentially damage to your home.
“Rats can squeeze through a hole the size of a quarter, while mice can fit through a hole the size of a dime,” Kane said. “Even if they can’t find an opening, they can often chew their way in.”
Here are the nation’s 15 rattiest cities:
1. Chicago
2. Los Angeles
3. New York
4. Washington
5. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
6. Detroit
7. Cleveland-Akron
8. Minneapolis-St. Paul
9. Philadelphia
10. Atlanta
11. Denver
12. Baltimore
13. Seattle-Tacoma
14. Boston
15. Dallas-Ft. Worth
The most common rodent pests in the United States are the house mouse, the Norway rat and the roof rat.
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