What Cities in the United States Have the Worst Bed Bug Infestations?

Bed bugs are nondiscriminatory when it comes to establishing residences in the cities throughout

the United States. As long as they can find a steady food source for blood from human or pet

hosts, a warm environment, and a cozy mattress or other bedding to set up their colony, they

quickly become a homeowner’s worst nightmare. However, there are certain cities where bed

bugs are a constant problem for homeowners, renters, hotel operators, and tourists, alike.

According to a study conducted by Orkin, the pest control company stated they noticed an

increase in the number of bed bug treatments the company performed from 2013 to 2014. In

addition, the company expected this number to continue to increase throughout 2015. Using the

data compiled by Orkin, based upon where the most bed bug treatments were completed for

2014, the following ten cities had the worst bed bug problems:

1. Chicago, Illinois

2. Detroit, Michigan

3. Columbus, Ohio

4. Los Angeles, California

5. Cleveland, Ohio

6. Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas

7. Cincinnati, Ohio

8. Denver, Colorado

9. Richmond, Virginia

10. Dayton, Ohio

Some people might notice Ohio seems to have major bed bug problems in most of its cities,

compared to other areas of the country. Part of the prevalence in Ohio is particularly due to

several of the cities being major hubs for airlines and travelers. Bed bugs do travel, too, and like

to hitch a free ride on someone’s luggage, in their backpack or purse, or even on their clothing to

reach distant lands and establish new homes.

Even though your city may not have been listed in the top 10, this does not mean bed bugs are

not an issue in your community. In larger cities, such as New York, Atlanta, San Francisco,

Honolulu, and Miami, bed bugs are still problematic. So, no matter where you live, you need to

protect your home from these unwanted and undesired house guests.

How to Safeguard Your Home against Bed Bugs

The best way to protect your home from bed bugs is to take preventative measures. Before

traveling on vacation or business, invest in impermeable bed covers to pack in your suitcase.

These bed covers are specially designed to create a barrier around mattresses and box springs to

trap bed bugs and stop them from finding their way into your luggage and your home. In

addition, take along special suitcase encasements and laundry bags as a secondary precaution.

When you arrive at your destination, leave your bags outside of the room while you do a quick

inspection. Pull back covers and look along the seams of mattresses and box springs for signs of

bed bug activity. If you notice any bed bugs, immediately request a different room in another

area of the hotel or resort. After securing a bed bug free room, install bed bug certified mattress

encasements and bed wraps for bed bugs from Mattress Safe® on bedding and pillows, just in

case there are some bed bugs hiding in the room where you or housekeeping did not notice them.

Upon returning home, never carry your bags directly into the home. Take the time to carefully

inspect luggage, shake out clothing, and perform other such inspections outside the home.

Hopefully you will not find any bed bugs, but, if you do, you are going to be relieved you

discovered them outside the home, not in your mattress.

Treat all bed bug infected clothing by carefully transporting items into the home inside the

laundry bag and emptying everything directly into the washing machine. Wash the bag and

clothing on the hottest wash cycle possible to kill the bed bugs. If bed bugs are on your luggage,

simply place bags inside a bed bug suitcase encasement and leave it sealed until the bags can be

properly treated.