(2020 update at the bottom of this post)
In 2018, a whopping 97% of pest professionals treated bed bugs.
And this is not the only alarming bed bug statistic published in recent years.
The National Pest Management Association has recently conducted a survey called…
Bugs Without Borders, that now provides a deeper insight into the stubborn pests’ dietary habits.
Throughout this article… we’ll inform you about all of the shocking bed bug stats.
From their favorite meeting spots…
To how they have terrorized humanity in recent years.
Page Contents:
The Bed Bug Epidemic
The following bed bug stats belong to the National Pest Management Association as a result of their 2018 research – Bugs Without Borders.
Bed bug bites are the most commonly reported sign of an infestation (92%).
The frightening thing about this new finding is that bed bug bites sometimes don’t show at all.
A lot of people never experience a skin reaction after being bitten by a bed bug.
This means that they might not be aware of an infestation that exists right within their mattress.
84% of pest professionals suggest that bite victims can’t identify bed bugs.
In 71% of these cases, pest control professionals were told by victims that they were bitten by flies when they were really preyed on by bed bugs.
In another 28% of cases, people who contacted pest professionals believed they were bitten by a cockroach.
Bed Bug Statistics By State
Orkin’s released their 2019 standings for the absolute worst cities in America for bed bugs.
And although we haven’t seen much change in the top 5…
New York moved up two spots to #6 and Philadelphia and Atlanta cracked the top 10.
The top 5 worst cities for bed bugs in 2019 are:
- Baltimore, MD
- Washington, DC
- Chicago, IL
- Los Angeles, CA
- Columbus, OH
Terminix, another company surveying for the same research, showcased different results based on the number of service requests:
- Cleveland, OH
- Philadelphia, PA
- Los Angeles, CA
- Indianapolis, IN
- Cincinnati, OH
New York, California, Florida, Ohio, Maryland, and New Jersey have consistently ranked highly for bed bug infestations so be wary if you are visiting any of these states.
Key Bed Bug Facts
Other facts by the National Pest Management Association may help us eradicate bed bugs by learning their habits and predicting their movements.
Here are a few that you should be aware of:
Most bed bugs are picked up in nursing homes (59%)
Other places with great potential for bed bug infestations include:
- Office buildings (46%)
- Schools and day care centers (47%)
- Hospitals (36%)
- Doctor’s offices and other medical facilities (39%)
- Transportation (19%)
- Retail stores (16%)
- Movie theaters (13%).
Attractive real estate options for bed bugs include:
- Single-family homes (91%)
- Apartments & Condominiums (89%)
- Hotels/Motels (68%).
They love to travel on luggage, laundry and used furniture.
Though bed bugs are typically found in couches and bed frames, they can also get comfortable in purses, backpacks, school buses, airplanes, wheelchairs, and stuffed animals.
Bed bug bites are more frequent in the summer, says pest professionals.
They believe the main reason for this may be increased travel during this time of the year, which helps spread pests from one location to another.
More than 50% of surveyed companies agree with this observation.
These facts will help you stay safe and secure from a bed bug infestation in 2019.
Try not to let these bed bug stats affect your sleep too much!
Bed Bug Statistics 2020
Due to the COVID-19 epidemic that has dominated 2020 people are traveling less…
And very few people are staying in temporary lodging such as hotels/motels or Airbnbs.
Therefore the number of bed bug cases has actually decreased since the middle of March and will likely continue to decrease until traveling picks up again.
Foot traffic, crowds, and travelers are the biggest ways that bed bugs are transmitted and spread.
Therefore a silver lining of the Coronavirus pandemic is that less people are suffering from bed bugs infestations as a result. Below you can see the average popularity of “bed bug” related searches in Google over time.
If you’re looking to understand more about bed bugs and their relation to infectious diseases (specifically the coronavirus) you can click here to learn more.
I stay at the hotel magic carpet in Los Angeles ca on Figueroa century I have pictures of bed bug they seen and recovered the bud bug in cup then offered me another room on the other side so i went open door then plAce a bag on the bed the left out
..locked door then left walking at this point I don’t know what to do ?????
I booked a hotel for the week I have several bed bug bites on me the place is infested in both rooms cause I’ve moved to another a have pictures and trapped bugs the employee at desk didn’t seem to care or want to look she didn’t even have vacuum bags so we could clean the room I spent all my money booking this week now I’m stuck here with them what should I do
Thanks for sharing this interesting piece of information.
i have been living at the same motel going on a year now with my family three of them being children in march of this year i noticed my daughter was getting bit than soon after that we all started getting bit than there it was crawling on my bed bed bugs i have several bites all over my body as well as my family we have mentioned it but they wont do anything due to the fact we are going through an eviction with the motel i have videos of them crawling and i have caught a few of them we are still in the same room getting horribly bit not sleeping and stressed out of being bitten can u help us?
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