We Have Rats: New Data Released On Puget Sound Infestations

LAKEWOOD, WA - If you hate critters like rats, mice, and cockroaches (and who doesn't?), then you've picked a pretty good place to live.

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released its American Housing Survey, which takes a look at various aspects of housing in cities across the country. One of the things is measures is how many homes report pest infestations.

Thankfully, the Seattle metro area came in dead last for cockroach infestations, and was near the bottom for rats and mice. Big East Coast cities like Boston and Philadelphia had more vermin, while big cities in the south, like Tampa and Houston, had bigger cockroach infestations.

Here are the top 20 metropolitan areas in the survey and the share of housing units (%) that reported an infestation*:

Cockroaches

1. Houston - 37.8%
2. Tampa - 37.6%
3. Atlanta - 24.9%
4. Phoenix - 20.1%
5. Los Angeles - 17.2%
6. Dallas-Ft Worth - 15.7%
7. Minneapolis - 14.8%
8. Riverside-San Bernardino - 13.8%
9. New York - 10.9%
10. Washington, DC - 8.9%
11. Philadelphia - 7.3%
12. Baltimore - 6%
13. Chicago - 4.8%
14. San Francisco - 4.8%
15. Denver - 2.3%
16. Miami - 1.9%
17. Boston - 1.9%
18. Detroit - 1.5%
19. Portland - 1.5%
20. Seattle - 0.6%

Rats and Mice

1. Philadelphia - 17.7%
2. Baltimore - 17.1%
3. Boston - 16.8%
4. Washington, DC - 13%
5. Portland - 10.3%
6. Denver - 10.2%
7. New York - 9%
8. Detroit - 8.7%
9. Chicago - 8.7%
10. Houston - 8.1%
11. San Francisco - 7.9%
12. Riverside-San Bernardino - 6.6%
13. Los Angeles - 6.5%
14. Seattle - 5.3%
15. Atlanta - 4.8%
16. Dallas-Ft Worth - 4.6%
17. Phoenix - 3.4%
18. Tampa - 2.7%
19. Miami - 1.8%
20. Minneapolis - 0.2%

*All data from the American Housing Survey

Image via Pixabay