Philly ranks #2 of the top 15 cities where bedbugs bite
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Terminix, the leading provider of pest control services in the United States, released its sixth annual ranking of bedbug-infested cities Wednesday.
For the first time in four years, Philadelphia was outranked by Detroit, which stole the top spot.
But, Philadelphia is still quite high at number two.
New York City dropped from three to 15.
Rounding out the top 15 bedbug cities in the United States are: 1. Detroit, Mich. (4) 2. Philadelphia, Pa. (1) 3. Cleveland-Akron, Ohio (15) 4. Los Angeles, Calif. (14) 5. Dayton, Ohio (-) 6. Chicago, Ill. (5) 7. Columbus, Ohio (8) 8. Cincinnati, Ohio (2) 9. Dallas-Forth Worth, Texas (7) 10. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, Calif. (-) 11. Denver, Colo. (12) 12. Toledo, Ohio (-) 13. Oklahoma City, OK (-) 14. Baltimore, Md. (9) 15. New York, N.Y. (3)
"We've seen a steady increase in bedbugs since the 1990s, which has been influenced by increased international travel and infestations left untreated," said Paul Curtis, manager, technical services at Terminix. "Most of the cities in our top 15 are big tourist and business destinations, making travelers even more at risk for encounters with bedbugs -- whether it's on the plane, at their hotel, in a movie theater or riding in a taxi. The name 'bedbug' is deceptive, as these pests can thrive just about anywhere."
The list of top cities for bedbugs was created by compiling inbound lead data from the more than 300 Terminix branches across the country. The rankings represent Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) with the highest volume of calls from Jan. 1, 2015 to Dec. 17, 2015.
