Baltimore Now the Bed Bug Capital of the Nation

Some good news for Chicago: It’s no longer the bedbug capital of the nation.

In its annual ranking, released Tuesday, pest-control services provider Orkin said Baltimore tops its annual list of the top 50 cities for bed bugs. Chicago had been the center of bedbug action for four straight years.

 

The list is based on data from the metro areas where Orkin performed the most bed bug treatments, both residential and commercial, from Dec. 1, 2015, to Nov. 30, 2016.

Chicago ranked third this year. Baltimore moved up nine slots to No. 1, marking the first time it has made the top five. Rounding out the top handful were Washington, D.C., New York and Columbus, Ohio.

Rising from their bedbug slumbers and making the list for the first time were Las Vegas, Portland, Ore., Salt Lake City and Greensboro-High Point-Winston Salem, N.C.

The 30th most-assaulted area was Champaign-Springfield-Decatur, which moved up 12 slots.

Orkin said its revenues from trying to exterminate the hitchhiking bugs were up 10 percent over the previous year.

 

READ MORE HERE: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-chicago-bedbugs-orkin-0104-biz-20170103-story.html