Cleveland is in the Top 15 for Worst Bed Bug Infestations
According to the article, Orkin Releases Top 50 Bed Bug Cities List, released the beginning of 2018, four major Ohio cities rank within the top 50 Bed Bug Cities in the country, three of which are in the top 15! Cleveland coming in at a solid #14 on the list of cities with the worst bed bug infestations is not something to be proud of. But this article lead us to ask a couple of questions as to WHY this might be the case for us and other cities that are just as embarrassed as we are to be on this list…
Why is Ohio such a hot spot for bed bug infestations?
And what would these cities in particular subject to bed bugs?
Before we start digging into some serious statistics, we have to point out one factor…
ANYONE CAN GET BED BUGS.
The only things a bed bug needs to survive are a place to hide and a host, which makes all homes, big, small, cluttered, or cleaned, a viable location to find these pests. The article, 2018 Bugs Without Borders Survey, points out the top three places to find bed bugs are single-family homes (91%), apartments/condominiums (89%), and hotels/motels (68%). Which leads to the first question as to why Ohio is a hot spot for bed bugs…
Theory #1: Population Density
Bed bugs can travel place to place, more often from your clothing. With a higher population, means a higher number of bed bugs traveling and reproducing in new areas. With a higher population density, means there are more people per square mile. Let’s take a look at the population density per square mile from the article, Population Density for U.S. Cities Statistics, and relate it to the top 34 from the top 5 Bed Bug Cities list.
Taking a look at the graph above, there is no such pattern or correlation as to the ranking of the city and the the persons per square mile. So far no luck, on to the next theory…
Theory #2: Persons in Poverty
One of the most common misconceptions of bed bugs is that they prefer to be in houses with those who have low economic status. With Cleveland having a whopping 39% of the population under the poverty line, we were sure this would show some relation with the rest of the cities. Take a look at what we found with the Top 34 Bed Bug Cities in comparison to the percentage of people that are below the poverty line:
And yet again, no such correlation. The current poverty rate in the United States is 12.7%, which means that most of these cities are higher, but still have no pattern as to why one city would be higher than another.
Well everyone, we have gone through two theories and have yet to find a any distinction as to why one city would have more bed bugs than another. Do you have a theory as to why? Let us know!! Stay tuned for our next article on why Cleveland is in the Top 15 for Worst Bed Bug Infestations.
