Which Pest Dominates Each NYC Borough — Rats or Insects?
Insect/vermin complaints outnumber rodent complaints in every one of NYC's five boroughs, January 2025 – 4 July 2026 (18 months) — citywide, by roughly 2.2-to-1 (94,740 vs. 43,566). The Bronx is the most lopsided (81.5% insect/vermin); Staten Island is the closest to an even split (56.7% insect/vermin, 43.3% rodent). No borough is rodent-dominant. Source: NYC 311 Open Data (erm2-nwe9).
Study period: January 2025 – 4 July 2026 (18 months). Pull date: 2026-07-04.
Rodent vs. insect/vermin complaint share, by borough
Every borough skews toward insect/vermin (UNSANITARY CONDITION–PESTS) over rodent complaints, but the skew varies sharply. The Bronx is 81.5% insect/vermin — the most lopsided mix in the city — while Staten Island, at 56.7% insect/vermin and 43.3% rodent, is the closest any borough comes to a 50/50 split. Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens all cluster near a roughly two-thirds insect/vermin, one-third rodent mix.
| Borough | Rodent | Insect/Vermin | Rodent % | Insect/Vermin % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Bronx | 7,053 | 31,095 | 18.5% | 81.5% |
| Brooklyn | 15,547 | 28,074 | 35.6% | 64.4% |
| Queens | 7,800 | 13,482 | 36.7% | 63.3% |
| Manhattan | 11,536 | 19,955 | 36.6% | 63.4% |
| Staten Island | 1,630 | 2,134 | 43.3% | 56.7% |
Source: NYC 311 Open Data (erm2-nwe9), complaint_type='Rodent' vs. complaint_type='UNSANITARY CONDITION' AND descriptor='PESTS'. Pull date: 2026-07-04. Citywide totals: 43,566 rodent, 94,740 insect/vermin.
Why doesn't this page include bed bugs?
We checked. NYC 311's Service Requests dataset (erm2-nwe9) has no standalone Bedbugs complaint_type
and no bed-bug descriptor filed under UNSANITARY CONDITION — a query for
complaint_type LIKE '%Bed%' and
descriptor LIKE '%BED BUG%' against
the live dataset returned zero rows on 2026-07-04. Rather than estimate a figure that isn't in the
source data, this page compares the two categories that are: Rodent and Insect/Vermin. If NYC 311
adds a queryable bed-bug field, this page will be updated to include it.
Do rodent and insect/vermin complaints peak in the same neighborhoods?
No. The citywide rodent-complaint leader is ZIP 10035 (East Harlem, Manhattan), with 1,464 complaints — a Manhattan ZIP. The insect/vermin leader is ZIP 11226 (Flatbush, Brooklyn), a Brooklyn ZIP, with 2,847 complaints. Only two ZIPs (10452, 11226, 11213) appear in both top-15 lists — the two complaint categories are largely driven by different places.
Top 15 ZIPs — Rodent Complaints
| ZIP | Neighborhood | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 10035 | East Harlem | 1,464 |
| 10452 | Highbridge | 1,089 |
| 11226 | Flatbush | 970 |
| 11221 | Bushwick | 932 |
| 11233 | Bedford-Stuyvesant | 927 |
| 11216 | Bedford-Stuyvesant | 910 |
| 11238 | Prospect Heights / Clinton Hill | 839 |
| 10025 | Upper West Side | 808 |
| 11385 | Ridgewood | 791 |
| 10027 | Morningside Heights / Harlem | 694 |
| 11215 | Park Slope | 662 |
| 10024 | Upper West Side | 653 |
| 11218 | Kensington | 600 |
| 11225 | Prospect Lefferts Gardens | 591 |
| 11213 | Crown Heights | 579 |
Source: erm2-nwe9, complaint_type='Rodent'. Pull date: 2026-07-04.
Top 15 ZIPs — Insect/Vermin Complaints
| ZIP | Neighborhood | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 11226 | Flatbush | 2,847 |
| 10457 | Tremont | 2,729 |
| 10458 | Belmont / Fordham | 2,704 |
| 10456 | Morrisania | 2,645 |
| 10452 | Highbridge | 2,494 |
| 10467 | Allerton | 2,424 |
| 10453 | Morris Heights | 2,416 |
| 10460 | East Tremont | 1,898 |
| 11207 | East New York | 1,819 |
| 11212 | Brownsville | 1,782 |
| 10468 | Fordham | 1,710 |
| 10459 | Longwood | 1,643 |
| 10031 | Hamilton Heights | 1,490 |
| 11213 | Crown Heights | 1,433 |
| 10032 | Washington Heights | 1,415 |
Source: erm2-nwe9, descriptor='PESTS'. Pull date: 2026-06-25 (see Neighborhoods).
The takeaway
"Pest problem" is not one number in NYC — it is at least two distinct geographic patterns. The Bronx's housing stock skews the citywide mix hard toward insect/vermin; Staten Island is the only borough where rodent complaints approach parity with insect/vermin. See the full pest-type breakdown for sub-type and seasonal detail, or Neighborhoods for the insect/vermin ZIP ranking alone.
Frequently asked questions
Which pest complaint type is more common in NYC — rodents or insects/vermin?
Insect/vermin complaints (NYC 311 category UNSANITARY CONDITION–PESTS) outnumber rodent complaints citywide by roughly 2.2-to-1 — 94,740 insect/vermin complaints vs. 43,566 rodent complaints, January 2025 – 4 July 2026 (18 months). Source: NYC 311 Open Data (erm2-nwe9), pull date 2026-07-04.
Is any NYC borough rodent-dominant rather than insect-dominant?
No. Across all five boroughs measured, insect/vermin complaints exceed rodent complaints. The Bronx has the most lopsided mix — 81.5% insect/vermin vs. 18.5% rodent — while Staten Island is the most balanced, at 56.7% insect/vermin vs. 43.3% rodent. Source: erm2-nwe9, January 2025 – 4 July 2026 (18 months), pull date 2026-07-04.
Does NYC 311 track bed bug complaints separately from other pests?
No queryable bed bug category exists in the NYC 311 Service Requests dataset (erm2-nwe9) as of the 2026-07-04 pull — there is no standalone 'Bedbugs' complaint_type and no bed-bug descriptor under UNSANITARY CONDITION. This page compares the two pest categories that are measurable in the dataset: Rodent and Insect/Vermin (UNSANITARY CONDITION–PESTS).
Which ZIP code has the most rodent complaints in NYC?
ZIP code 10035 (East Harlem, Manhattan) leads citywide rodent complaints with 1,464 complaints, January 2025 – 4 July 2026 (18 months). This is a different ZIP than the insect/vermin leader, 11226 (Flatbush, Brooklyn) — the two pest categories peak in different neighborhoods.