Rodent activity in Boston is the highest it’s ever been since 2015 according to a recent RentHop report.
In 2022 rodent complaints from Bostonians reached all-time highs according to RentHop. Since 2015, RentHop tracked data on rodent sightings and complaints for different Boston neighborhoods, this year the number of reported rodent sightings jumped 12.6% and RentHop expects there to be many more before the year’s close. Through the duration of 2022, Boston’s 311 tracking system received 3,500 rodent complaints which equates to 5 complaints for every 1,000 residents.
What is behind the recent jump in Boston rodent activity?
The speculated culprit behind the increase in rodent sightings is the pandemic. With restaurants adapting and many remaining closed in 2020-2021, rats found new sources of food and shelter in lively residential areas. Boston recently introduced carbon monoxide systems to manage growing rat populations, but despite the city’s best efforts, they cannot compete with the rodent reproduction rate, which is also behind the increased rodent reports.
Which Boston neighborhood has the most rodents?
On average, large neighborhoods have higher populations, more restaurants, etc. so to normalize results and level the playing field, RentHop compares the number of rodent complaints relative to the square mileage of the respective neighborhood.
For the third year in a row, Downtown Boston remains the most rodent-infested neighborhood, with 550 reports of rodent sightings to date, compared to 527 in 2021, nearly a 5% jump. Although receiving fewer complaints compared to last year, South End is the second most rodent-infested area with 384 complaints to date. Below is a list of the top five rodent-infested neighborhoods in Boston from RentHop’s gatherings:
- Downtown – 550 complaints in 2022, 885 complaints/sq mi
- South End – 283 complaints in 2022, 384 complaints /sq mi
- Beacon Hill – 91 complaints in 2022, 290 complaints /sq mi
- North End – 56 complaints in 2022, 282 complaints /sq mi
- Bay Village – 11 complaints in 2022, 265 complaints /sq mi
Rodent complaints spiked in these neighborhoods:
- South Boston Waterfront – 6 complaints in 2021, 15 in 2022 (+150%)
- Beacon Hill – 60 complaints in 2021, 91 in 2022 (+51.8%)
- Mission Hill – 62 complaints in 2021, 89 in 2022 (+43.4%)
- Allston – 151 complaints in 2021, 190 in 2022 (+26%)
- Hyde Park – 97 complaints in 2021, 119 in 2022 (+23.8%)
Rodent complaints dropped significantly in these neighborhoods:
- Roslindale – 66 complaints in 2021, 50 in 2022 (-26.9%)
- South End – 364 complaints in 2021, 283 in 2022 (-22.3%)
- South Boston – 224 complaints in 2021, 190 in 2022 (-15.2%)
- North End – 66 complaints in 2021, 56 in 2022 (-15.1%)
- East Boston – 213 complaints in 2021, 188 in 2022 (-13.3%)
These are the most rodent-infested addresses in Boston for 2022:
- 1 City Hall Plz, Boston, MA 02108 – 9 rodent complaints
- 40 Vernon St, Boston, MA 02136 – 9 rodent complaints
- 8 Duncan Pl, Boston, MA 02122 – 8 rodent complaints
- 10 Navillus Ter, Boston, MA 02122 – 8 rodent complaints
- 40 Queensberry St, Boston, MA 02215 – 8 rodent complaints
RentHop created an interactive heat map to view the rodent activity in each Boston neighborhood, even those that luckily didn’t make the top five.