Sleep Easy: Chicago Is No Longer Worst In Nation For Bed Bugs

By Stephen Gossett in News on Jan 3, 2017 7:00PM

Dead bed bugs on a paper towel (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Chicago just scratched away a designation we’re all too happy to lose. For the first time in five long, itchy years, Chicago no longer the No. 1 city in the country for bed bugs.

Chicago has had the ignominious “honor” of dominating the annual critter rankings, which are released annually by Orkin and based on cases treated over the prior year by the pest company. Chicago had previously topped the list four consecutive years.

The new leader? Baltimore, MD, which shot to the front despite having never placed in the top five in the six years Orkin has released its data. The only Illinois metro aside from Chicago to place in the Top 50 was Champaign-Springfield-Decatur, which rose 12 spots over last year to come at No. 30 overall. Check out the national top ten below, plus how many positions each city rose or fell:

1) Baltimore (+9)
2) Washington, D.C. (+1)
3) Chicago (-2)
4) New York
5) Columbus, Ohio
6) Los Angeles (-4)
7) Detroit
8) Cincinnati
9) Philadelphia (-3)
10) San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose (+4)

Take it from someone who's faced the nightmarish experience of an infestation: don't let that slight drop in ranking lead to complacency. Make sure to check out the city's Bed Bug Fact Sheet, take a peek at Orkin's handy FAQs, keep your butt on the plastic when you take the CTA and if you see an old sofa in the alley, leave that old sofa in the alley. With luck, maybe we dip out of the top ten altogether in 2018.