Bed bugs. Ugh! They’ve been a scourge for centuries. You can check to see if your specific hotel has been reported for bed bugs, but either way, some cities just seem to have more than others.
Since at least 2014, Orkin, one of the largest nationwide pest control companies in the country, has put out an annual list of the 50 cities in the U.S. that have the most bed bugs. The list is based on data from the metro areas where Orkin performed the most bed bug treatments. For their most updated list, that’s from December 1, 2019 to November 30, 2020.
Although we were hoping that bed bugs would die off during the pandemic, they didn’t. In fact, in some U.S. cities, they became even more of a problem than usual.
Chicago knocked Washington D.C. off its perch as the city with the most bed bug complaints. D.C. was bumped to 3rd place, with Baltimore in between them. Detroit and Columbus, OH rounded out the Top 5.
Toledo joined the Top 50 (as #50) during Orkin’s 2020 report, and jumped 23 spots in 2021, landing as #27. Dayton, OH also made an unfortunate impressive jump, from #49 to #28. Both Denver and Charleston entered the Top 20, and six new cities that had never been in the Top 50 are now on it for the first time this year.
Happily, Lansing, MI went from #30 in 2020 to #48 in 2021. Miami jumped backward, as well, going from #32 last year to #47 this year. And Orlando (36 to 45), Greensboro, NC (25 to 34), Norfolks, VA (15 to 24) and San Francisco (13 to 22) all jumped back 9 slots.
But overall, yeah, bed bugs are definitely not dead.
Here are the Top 20 for 2021, including a comparison to where they were last year:
- Chicago (+2)
- Baltimore
- Washington DC (-2)
- Detroit (+3)
- Columbus, OH
- Cleveland, OH (+5)
- Indianapolis (+2)
- Cincinnati
- Los Angeles (-5)
- Grand Rapids, MI (+8)
- Charlotte, NC (+9)
- New York City (-6)
- Atlanta (-3)
- Philadelphia (-2)
- Champaign, IL (+1)
- Dallas-Ft. Worth (+1)
- Raleigh, NC (-3)
- Charleston, WV (+8)
- Pittsburgh
- Denver (+7)
Check out Orkin’s website for the full list of the top 50 cities in the U.S. with beg bugs.
Orkin also offers:
- How to identify bed bugs
- The signs of bed bug bites
- The signs of a bed bug infestation
- How bed bugs travel
Feature Photo: Orkin
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
