Attention Chicago! New York City moved up one spot in an annual list of bed bug cities.
NYC is second only to the Windy City as the nation’s bed bug capital. Philadelphia, which finished second in 2022, fell to third in Orkin’s yearly rankings.
Orkin’s list comes from the number of treatments the pest control company performed in the country’s metropolitan areas between December 2021 and November 2022. An exact number of exterminator visits was not reported.
“Bed bugs are extremely resilient, which makes them difficult to control,” Orkin entomologist Ben Hottel said in a statement. “It is recommended that a trained professional be consulted upon seeing a bed bug introduction.”
Hottel said bed bugs, which lay up to five eggs a day and drink blood to stay alive, are “excellent at hiding” but are visible to the naked eye. They are 3/16″ long and colored dark brown and red.
The Big Apple’s jump to second was not the biggest jump on Orkin’s list. That award goes to Los Angeles, which has moved up from 12th on the list to fifth.
The only other Empire State city to crack Orkin’s top 50 is Buffalo, which fell one spot to finish at No. 29. That’s certainly a small boon for Buffalo residents who don’t want to leave their homes in the brutal January weather.
There were no candidates from New Jersey or Connecticut. Other cities in the top 10 were: Cleveland; Akron, Ohio; Detroit.; Indianapolis; Baltimore; Washington, DC or Columbus, Ohio.
