One Of Florida's Most Rat-Infested Cities Has Been Recently Named Its Dirtiest

Photo byEdal Anton Lefterov, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

According to Florida-based Northwest Exterminating, rats can be attracted to places that are "dirty" or cluttered since they search out left-out food and spills. Rats are reportedly not very picky and will eat all types of items that are edible. This may be why one of Florida's cities - Miami - has been named both its dirtiest and one of its most rat-infested.

What Makes Up A "Dirty" City, According to Lawnstarter: In the summer of 2024, the lawn company Lawnstarter ranked the "dirtiest" cities in America. To do so, it looked at metrics like air pollution, water quality, waste management, and resident satisfaction levels.

Florida's "dirtiest" city was Miami, which was ranked as the 20th "dirty" city in America. Miami ranked most poorly for resident dissatisfaction.

And there has been some reporting about sanitation issues in Miami. In July of 2023, The New York Post reported that several of Miami's landfills were projected to run out of room in 2026.

Other Florida cities that ranked relatively highly on the list were Coral Springs, Hollywood, and West Palm Beach.

The Florida Cities With The Most Rats: In September of 2024, Terminex released what it felt were the most "rat-infested" cities in the United States using data from 2023.

Miami wasn't Florida's most rat-infested, according to Terminex. That honor went to Tampa, followed by Orlando, and then Miami. (These cities were ranked 17th, 18th, and 22nd, respectively.)

PBS has reported that the number of rats in the United States is increasing in part because of population density.

All three of Florida's "rattiest" cities that made the list are in the top four of the most densely populated cities in Florida (excluding Jacksonville.)

Interestingly enough, there is a "ratty" nickname that is beloved in South Florida - that of the NHL Florida Panthers. Local lore goes that the Panthers became known as "the rats" because a Panthers goalie once called a hat trick a "rat trick" instead because he saw an actual rat in the old Miami Arena.

The author is not affiliated with Terminex or Lawnstarter.