Ward 1 is DC's rat epicenter
Every 311 rodent report in Washington, DC over the last 12 months — mapped by ward. 20,267 reports total; Ward 1 alone logged 4,161, nearly five times Ward 3. Data refreshed monthly from DC Open Data.
Reports by ward
| Ward | Reports | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ward 1 | 4,161 | 20.5% | |
| Ward 5 | 3,681 | 18.2% | |
| Ward 4 | 3,502 | 17.3% | |
| Ward 2 | 3,116 | 15.4% | |
| Ward 7 | 2,177 | 10.7% | |
| Ward 6 | 2,049 | 10.1% | |
| Ward 3 | 911 | 4.5% | |
| Ward 8 | 670 | 3.3% |
What this means
Wards 1, 5, 4 and 2 account for more than 7 in 10 rodent reports citywide. If you live in one of these wards and see rats indoors, gnaw marks, or droppings, DC's free 311 program likely won't cover you — it only treats outdoor burrows on request. That's when a licensed private exterminator is the right call. Take the 60-second quiz to find out which applies to you.
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Source: DC 311 City Service Requests, service code S0311 (“Rodent Inspection and Treatment” / “DC Health Rodent & Vector Control”), via the DC Open Data ArcGIS REST API (CC-BY 4.0). Window: October 19, 2025 – October 19, 2026. Counts are raw 311 requests aggregated by ward — not normalized by population or land area, and not every sighting gets reported, so treat this as a directional heat map, not a census of rats. Ward boundaries: DC GIS.