Photo by Erik Karits/We Love Houston photo, Flickr, by Kristina D.C. Hoeppner
Cockroaches. Just the thought of living with cockroaches gives most people the jeepers. But it seems that residents in Houston have to live with them.
Pest Gnome, a company that connects people with pest exterminators, recently ranked the most roach-infested cities in the U.S. using data from the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The study looked at “The 25 Roachiest Cities in America.”
The city that earned the highest average score was ranked as No. 1, or the “Roachiest,” and the lowest average score as No. 25, or “Least Roachy.”
At the top of the list is Houston, Texas. A staggering 37 percent of homes showed signs of roaches in the past 12 months. Pest Gnome attributes this high prevalence to Houston’s hot and humid climate, which provides ideal conditions for roach infestations, CW39 reported.
According to Pest Gnome, the two most common types of cockroaches in Houston are the big, brown, and flying American cockroach (aka palmetto bug) and the kitchen, pantry, and sink-dwelling German cockroach.
Another Texas city came in second. San Antonio claimed the second position on the list, with approximately 28 percent of homes displaying signs of roaches in the past year. Rounding out the top five were Tampa, Florida; Phoenix, Arizona; and Las Vegas, Nevada.
“All of these cities have sun and heat in summer, which roaches love, and winters here just don’t get that cold to kill them off,” Pest Gnome said, KSAT reported.
At the bottom, at no. 25, was Seattle, WA.
Cockroaches can also pose a health risk to humans.
“Cockroaches are known to transfer disease pathogens, such as the various bacteria that produce ‘food poisoning’ in humans, by contaminating food, food preparation surfaces, dishes, and eating utensils,” the Illinois Department of Public Health stated on its website.
Photo by Erik Karits, https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-cockroach-on-a-rock-11032990/We Love Houston photo, Flickr, by Kristina D.C. Hoeppner
