HOUSTON – Houston is even rattier than it was last year, according to Orkin.

The Dallas-Ft. Worth area and San Antonio also made the list, with Dallas-Ft. Worth moving up four spots.

Fall is when pests like rats and mice seek out food, water and shelter to survive the winter.

Orkin says an average of 21 million homes report a rodent issue each year in the U.S. It only takes a hole the size of a quarter for a rat to squeeze inside, and a hole the size of a dime for mice.

The list, released by the pest control company Orkin, ranks Chicago in the No. 1 spot for the third consecutive time.

The metro regions are ranked by the number of rodent treatments the company performed from

Sept. 15, 2016 – Sept. 15th, 2017. The ranking includes both residential and commercial treatments.

1. Chicago

2. New York

3. Los Angeles (+1)

4. San Francisco – Oakland (+1)

5. Washington, D.C. (-2)

6. Philadelphia (+1)

7. Detroit (+2)

8. Baltimore (-2)

9. Seattle – Tacoma (+2)

10. Dallas – Ft. Worth (+4)

11. Denver (-1)

12. Minneapolis – St. Paul (-4)

13. Cleveland – Akron (+2)

14. Atlanta (+2)

15. Boston (-3)

16. Hartford – New Haven, Connecticut (+1)

17. Portland, Oregon (+3)

18. Miami – Ft. Lauderdale (-5)

19. Indianapolis

20. Houston (+1)

21. Milwaukee (+2)

22. Pittsburgh (-4)

23. New Orleans (+15)

24. Cincinnati (+10)

25. Richmond – Petersburg, Virginia

26. Sacramento – Stockton, California (+6)

27. Kansas City (+3)

28. Charlotte (-1)

29. Norfolk – Portsmouth – Newport News, Virginia (-5)

30. Buffalo, New York (-1)

31. Columbus, Ohio (+6)

32. St. Louis (-4)

33. Raleigh – Durham, North Carolina (-11)

34. Grand Rapids – Kalamazoo, Michigan (-1)

35. San Diego (+12)

36. Albany – Schenectady, New York (-10)

37. San Antonio

38. Tampa – St. Petersburg (-7)

39. Rochester, New York (-4)

40. Nashville, Tennessee (-1)

41. Champaign – Springfield – Decatur, Illinois

42. Greenville – Spartanburg, South Carolina (-2)

43. Memphis, Tennessee

44. Phoenix (+1)

45. Syracuse, New York

46. West Palm Beach, Florida (-10)

47. Orlando – Daytona Beach, Florida (-1)

48. Madison, Wisconsin (+1)

49. Flint – Saginaw, Michigan (-8)

50. Green Bay – Appleton, Wisconsin (-6)

