Roaches, Mice and Rats: NYC Apartment Pest Complaints

NYC tenants reported 72,598 pest problems to HPD in 2025, and 80% were mice (29,853) or roaches (28,379). The Bronx had the most reports of any borough, complaints peaked in October, and the yearly total was 55% higher than in 2019, though slightly below 2024.

What this data counts

When a tenant reports pests through 311, HPD logs a complaint and one or more problems under it. This report counts problems in HPD's PESTS category, because a single complaint can list two pests (for example, mice and roaches). In 2025 there were 72,598 pest problems across 54,561 complaints. HPD sorts them into seven codes: mice, roaches, bed bugs, flies, termites, fleas and "other."

There is no rat code. HPD's FY25 Indoor Allergen Hazard Report says 311 complaints about rats are sent to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), not HPD, although HPD inspectors do write rat violations when they see evidence during an inspection. So rat problems are mostly missing from these numbers. For rats, see our report on NYC rat inspection results.

Mice and roaches dominate

Mice (29,853) and roaches (28,379) together made up 80% of all pest problems in 2025. "Other" was third with 8,043, followed by bed bugs (3,076), flies (2,454), termites (447) and fleas (346). Mice outnumbered roaches in every borough except Queens, where roaches led (4,580 vs 3,748). Bed bug complaints are a small slice here, but landlords also report bed bugs separately each year; see what landlord bed bug filings show.

Pest complaints peak in late summer and fall

Reports were lowest in February (4,404) and highest in October (7,437). July through September had 21,396 problems, 45% more than February through April (14,737). Roaches drive most of the summer jump: roach reports rose from 1,614 in February to 3,088 in October. Mouse reports moved less, but were highest in October (3,016) as well. This is one year of data, so treat it as a pattern to check against other years, not a rule.

The trend since 2019

Pest reports fell from 46,741 in 2019 to 41,761 in 2020, then climbed every year to a high of 74,947 in 2024. The 2025 total of 72,598 was 3.1% below that peak. Roach reports rose the most over the period, from 16,181 in 2019 to 28,379 in 2025. Bed bug reports went the other way, from 5,176 to 3,076. The data does not say why counts changed. The 2020 dip lines up with the pandemic year, when inspections and complaint habits changed, but this dataset cannot prove cause.

Neighborhoods with the most pest reports

Pest reports were spread across 197 neighborhoods (Neighborhood Tabulation Areas), but the top 15 accounted for 19,988 problems, 28% of the city total. Harlem (North) led with 2,054, followed by Flatbush (1,651) and Concourse-Concourse Village (1,556). Twelve of the top 15 are in the Bronx (six) or Manhattan north of Central Park (six); the other three are in Brooklyn. These are raw counts, not rates: neighborhoods with more apartments will usually have more reports, so a high rank does not by itself mean a higher chance of pests in any one apartment.

What happened to the complaints

HPD issued or had already issued violations for 33% of 2025 pest problems. For 45%, the inspector could not get in or could not finish the inspection, and the complaint was closed. That is the single most common outcome. If you report pests, be ready to give the inspector access, or the complaint may close without a violation. Under Local Law 55, owners of buildings with three or more apartments must inspect units for pests and mold each year and use integrated pest management, according to HPD. Our guide to your landlord's duty on roaches, mice and rats covers the rules.

Limits of this data

• Reports, not infestations. These are complaints. Many tenants never call 311, and some buildings generate many reports for one problem.
• Rats are largely missing because 311 routes rat complaints to DOHMH.
• No adjustment for size. Neighborhood and borough totals are not divided by the number of apartments.
• "Other" is not broken down in the dataset.
• Data changes. HPD updates the dataset daily. Figures were pulled on 2026-10-12. 2 problems had no neighborhood and are left out of the neighborhood chart only.

Method

We queried NYC Open Data dataset ygpa-z7cr on 2026-10-12 with SoQL, filtering to minor_category = PESTS and received dates in each calendar year, then counted problem rows grouped by problem code, borough, neighborhood (NTA), month and year. Outcomes come from each problem's status description, grouped into four buckets. The exact query URLs are saved in this report's data file.