Washington, D.C., is a beautiful city, but even it isn’t without its faults. Like most major cities, D.C. has a bustling rat population—in fact, pest control company Orkin named it the fourth rattiest U.S. city for the second year running.
Now, it seems D.C. is on track to break its yearly record for rodent complaints in 2022.
According to this year’s data collected by RentHop, in 2021, the D.C. rodent population peaked during the summer months. Although summer 2022 rodent reports didn’t surpass those of June and July 2021, there were still a high number of rats seen in D.C. in August and September 2022 “rats are getting comfortable and staying in the area.”
Fueling the possibility that D.C. could still be on track to surpass its complaint record, the city’s 311 system had received 11,113 rodent complaints as of Oct. 18 compared to 10,620 complaints at this time in 2021—marking a 4.64% increase.
Which D.C. neighborhoods reported the most rodent sightings?
Because neighborhood sizes can potentially affect the number of rodent complaints, RentHop adjusts the concentrations by neighborhood size and the number of complaints. Still, for the third consecutive year, Columbia Heights (Mt. Pleasant, Pleasant Plains, Park View) saw the most rodent activity of all D.C. neighborhoods, with a report of 1,214 complaints per square mile in 2022. This still marks a slight increase from its 1,100.6 complaints per square mile in 2021. Here are the five D.C. neighborhoods that reported the most rodent sightings in 2022:
- Columbia Heights, Mt. Pleasant, Pleasant Plains, Park View – 1,214 complaints in 2022, 1,214 complaints/sq mi
- Shaw, Logan Circle – 515 complaints in 2022, 911 complaints/sq mi
- Howard University, Le Droit Park, Cardozo/Shaw – 578 complaints in 2022, 804 complaints/sq mi
- Brightwood Park, Crestwood, Petworth – 1,498 complaints in 2022, 597 complaints/sq mi
- Union Station, Stanton Park, Kingman Park – 956 complaints in 2022, 596 complaints/sq mi
Rodent complaints substantially increased in these D.C. neighborhoods
- Woodland/Fort Stanton, Garfield Heights, Knox Hill – 3 complaints in 2021, 18 in 2022 (+583.3%)
- Eastland Gardens, Kenilworth – 1 complaints in 2021, 4 in 2022 (+500%)
- Fairfax Village, Naylor Gardens, Hillcrest, Summit Park – 6 complaints in 2021, 20 in 2021 (+237.5%)
- Douglas, Shipley Terrace – 42 complaints in 2021, 69 in 2022 (+66.7%)
- River Terrace, Benning, Greenway, Dupont Park – 197 complaints in 2021, 327 in 2022 (+65.5%)
These D.C. neighborhoods witnessed the largest decrease in rodent complaints
- Mayfair, Hillbrook, Mahoning Heights – 67 complaints in 2021, 20 in 2022 (-70.6%)
- Saint Elizabeths – 8 complaints in 2021, 4 in 2022 (-53.8%)
- Hawthorne, Barnaby Woods, Chevy Chase – 38 complaints in 2021, 19 in 2022 (-52.6%)
- Congress Heights, Bellevue, Washington Highlands– 211 complaints in 2021, 134 in 2022 (-36%)
- Spring Valley, Palisades, Wesley Heights, Foxhall Crescent, Foxhall village, Georgetown Reservoir – 36 complaints in 2022, 27 in 2021 (-30%)
These are the addresses with the most complaints filed in D.C. this year
- 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington D.C. 20004 – 23 rodent complaints
- 3829 Kansas Avenue NW, Washington D.C. 20011 – 21 rodent complaints
- 1139 Harvard Street NW, Washington D.C. 20009 – 16 complaints
- 5515 Illinois Avenue NW, Washington D.C. 20011 – 16 complaints
- 600 Keefer Place NW, Washington D.C. 20010 – 15 complaints