New York

Rats! NYC Earns Unique Honors in Pest Infestation Survey

What to Know

  • Philly topped the list for rodent infestations, with nearly 20 percent of households reporting evidence of mice or rats
  • Boston came in second, followed by New York
  • More than 40 percent of households in New Orleans reported evidence of cockroaches

New York City has earned the dubious distinction of being the only metro area with a double-digit percentage of households reporting signs of both rats and cockroaches, according to a recent study.

Sixteen percent of households (about 1.1 million) reported roaches in 2015, while 15 percent (1.1 million) reported signs of rodents, according to the American Housing Survey of 25 metropolitan areas. Philly topped the charts for rodent infestations, with nearly 20 percent of households reporting signs of the vermin. 

While the Northeast corridor is hit hard by rodents - no thanks to crowded urban centers - the East Coast fares better than the South when it comes to cockroaches. Those pests are partial to warm climates and prefer living in New Orleans, where a whopping 41 percent of households reported finding the vermin, Houston, Miami and Atlanta, according to the survey.

The online survey is conducted every two years and asks respondents an array of residential information, including how people finance their homes, whether their houses are musty and if they think their neighborhoods are safe.

It's not all bad news. New York showed declining numbers of infestations from 2013, Bloomberg reported. Meanwhile, Houston saw an 11 percent increase in roaches and a 12 percent increase in rodents.

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