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Los Angeles Tops Orkin’s 2025 ‘Rattiest Cities’ List for First Time

Orkin’s annual tally uses a year of new service calls to owner-occupied homes, a method critics argue gauges demand rather than true rat counts.

Overview

  • The 2025 ranking is based on new rodent-service calls logged from August 20, 2024, through August 21, 2025.
  • Chicago’s roughly decade-long run at No. 1 ended as it moved to second, with New York third and San Francisco fourth.
  • Orkin cites Los Angeles’s year-round warm weather, dense neighborhoods and abundant food sources as key drivers of its rise.
  • California is heavily represented on the list, and the top 10 shifted as Hartford and Minneapolis entered while Baltimore and Cleveland dropped out.
  • Public-interest advocates challenge the methodology as not scientifically definitive, and Orkin emphasizes prevention steps and health and property risks.