By Phoebe Miller, City Associate Editor • October 30, 2025

Amid a marked rise in rat sightings and growing concern among residents, the City of Boston is streamlining efforts to curb infestations and protect public health.

A rat peaking around the corner of an apartment in Back Bay. Residents have raised concerns about an increase in rat infestations in Boston due to inadequate trash storage, city infrastructure and old sewer systems. (JOSEPHINE KALBFLEISCH)

Mayor Michelle Wu launched the Boston Rodent Action Plan in July 2024 to fast-track rat reduction efforts and improve the quality of life for residents.

BRAP utilizes data collected throughout Boston neighborhoods to target areas suffering the most from rat infestations. The initiative is under several government departments, including Public Works, Inspectional Services, Neighborhood Services and the Boston Public Health Commission.

Residents reported a total of 5,525 complaints of rodent sightings last year — over 1,000 more complaints than in 2023 — to non-emergency services, according to a 2024 BRAP report.

The increase has been attributed to the inadequate removal of trash dotting sidewalks and Boston’s aging infrastructural design, which features “densely populated neighborhoods, intertwining alleyways [and] old sewer systems,” according to the BRAP website.

A2025 study linked an uptick in rodent sightings in urban areas to climate change. Warmer temperatures enable rats — which take shelter in sewage systems during the winter — to stay above ground for longer periods.

Boston University students, especially those living off campus, said rats continue to encroach upon their daily lives.

“I just feel disgusted,” said BU junior Micah Perry. “I’m just trying to get home, and then there’s just rats scurrying around my feet.”

Perry said he will “walk in the middle of the road” to avoid overflowing trash bins on sidewalks where rodents usually congregate.

Perry lives in off-campus housing in Allston-Brighton, a neighborhood well-known for its thriving rat population.

The naming of Allston’s Rat City Arts Festival, now in its fourth year, was inspired by the neighborhood’s nickname of “Rock City.” The play on words aims to “pay homage” to the many Allston residents dealing with rats burrowing through their trash and nibbling at their gardens, according to the festival’s website.

Annie Levy, a BU senior living in Allston, said she often sees rats in her apartment building courtyard and found a mouse in her apartment a few weeks ago.

“I do feel like they’re everywhere, and I feel like it’s so gross,” Levy said. “The rats I see down my street, there’s no way they would get caught in traps. They’re just so big.”

According to the BRAP report, 569 of the more than 5,000 complaints regarding rodent sightings in 2023 were from Allston-Brighton — the third highest number among Boston neighborhoods.

The report marked Allston-Brighton as a “Priority Action Neighborhood” — areas with the highest, densest rat populations — and outlined a plan to curb rodent growth.

In Allston and beyond, members of the Inspectional Services Department are embarking on “rat walks” several times a week, during which they visit locations they’ve received complaints from and identify burrows.

At a BRAP Community Meeting Oct. 16, Boston Superintendent for Waste Reduction Dennis Roache emphasized the importance of properly disposing trash.

He said certain neighborhoods can’t feasibly use trash bins due to limited space, and parking spaces in some areas are too tight for a trash truck to pull a bin between cars.

“There’s trash spilling out of trash cans just on the side of the road,” Perry said. “I feel like it definitely can be managed in a much better way … especially where I live.”

Fifteen trash cans line the sidewalk near Perry’s apartment building, he said.

“That just can’t be the most efficient way to gather up trash,” he added.

Shani Fletcher, director of GrowBoston within the Office of Urban Agriculture, said the organization fields calls from community gardens concerning rodent issues, adding they have put together a resource guide to “help prevent and mitigate rodents” in urban green spaces.

“We want to make sure that we’re not encouraging or feeding [the rodent] population,” Fletcher said.

Fletcher said construction can disrupt rodents from their usual patterns, leading to sudden increases in rodent activity and sightings.

“The organizations that own those gardens are making efforts all the time to address [the issue],” Fletcher said. “I think people are being pretty proactive about it.”

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