Syracuse code complaints, month by month

The city opened 2,539 code complaints in its busiest month on file (May 2025) and 196 in the newest (Oct 2026 — incomplete, because we publish the file as it stands). Between those two facts sits the only honest summary of this data: volume swings hard, and one month on its own proves very little.

Monthly totals

Sep 2026 was the last complete month: 1,044 records, against 786 the month before — a change of 32.8%. Against the same month a year earlier (Oct 2025, 1,111), the newest month is -82.4%.

The summer bump

The busiest stretch in the file is late spring and summer. May, June and July 2026 totalled 16,988 records , against 6,896 for the same three months a year earlier. That is consistent with how inspection sweeps and complaint-driven work are scheduled, but this file alone cannot prove a cause.

Which months are busiest, on average

Averaged across every complete year in the file, so a single busy month does not distort it.

Recent months, in full

Why you should not read too much into one month

• Reporting lag. Records are entered after the fact, so the newest month is always undercounted. The last row in the table above is not a decline.
• Sweeps, not sentiment. A single enforcement sweep on one street can add hundreds of records to a month. May 2025 is 1,753 records above the quietest full month — far more than any gradual change in conditions would produce.
• Complaint volume is not disrepair. It measures reporting as much as it measures conditions. A neighbourhood that calls the city more often will look worse in this file, whatever its housing stock is doing.
• We only count records the city publishes. Nothing is modelled, seasonally adjusted or forecast.

Where the volume sits

The 12-month total is concentrated: ZIP 13208 alone accounts for 3,808 records. See complaints by ZIP and type, or the stories on the most-complained address and the busiest Northside street.