Major Illinois City Named The Worst For This Bug The Past 3 Years

In the past 12 months, you've most likely stayed at a hotel or two. Typically when you stay there, you try to not think about the worst things about the room, what has happened in the room, or what will happen in the room. What I'm about to tell you will not only make you think twice about staying at a hotel in these cities but will make you think twice about spending the night anywhere in these cities.

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Orkin Is Here To Gross Us Out

The popular pesticide company Orkin has released its list of the Top 50 Bed Bug Cities List. How do they determine that? It's simple. Orkin is basing this list on treatment data from the metro areas where they performed the most bed bug treatments from December 1, 2021, to November 30, 2022. The ranking includes both residential and commercial treatments.

What Is A Bed Bug?

Glad you asked.

Orkin says bed bugs are 3/16 inch long, red to dark brown in color, and are mostly nocturnal insects that come out at night. Bed bugs are hematophagous, which means blood is their only food source, according to Orkan.

Bed bugs can't fly but travel from place to place with ease and quickly by clinging to items such as luggage, purses, and other personal belongings.

Lots Of Bed Bugs In Illinois

For the third year in a row, Orkin found that Chicago is the worst city in the U.S. for bed bugs.

The sad part about this list is that Chicago isn't the only Illinois city on this list. Oh yeah, Illinois is infested with bed bugs.

Orkin found that Champaign is also really full of bed bugs. It actually went up two spots from last year from 13th to #11.

The other city from Illinois on Orkin's Top 50 Bed Bug Cities List is Peoria, IL. Luckily, Peoria is going down on this list from 2022 to 2023. It went down three spots to #48.

Orkin has provided recommendations for homeowners and travelers to prevent bed bugs:

At Home:

• Inspect your home for signs of bed bugs regularly. Check the places where bed bugs hide during the day, including mattress tags and seams, and behind baseboards, headboards, electrical outlets, and picture frames. Inspect when you move in, after a trip, when a service worker visits, or after guests stay overnight.

• Decrease clutter around your home to make it easier to spot bed bugs on your own or during professional inspections.

• Examine all secondhand furniture before bringing it inside your home.

During travel, S.L.E.E.P. to inspect for bed bugs:

• Survey the hotel room for signs of an infestation. Be on the lookout for tiny, ink-colored stains on mattress seams, in soft furniture, and behind headboards.

• Lift and look in bed bug hiding spots: the mattress, box spring, and other furniture, as well as behind baseboards, pictures, and even torn wallpaper.

• Elevate luggage away from the bed and wall. The safest places are in the bathroom or on the counters.

• Examine your luggage carefully while repacking and once you return home from a trip. Always store luggage away from the bed.

• Place all dryer-safe clothing from your luggage in the dryer for at least 30-45 minutes at the highest setting after you return home.