This city is the worst for bed bugs in the US
In a new list, the pest control company Terminix has identified the 50 cities it treats the most for the pests. Bed bugs are blood-sucking insects that can quickly infest homes. It can take months to eradicate infestations.
"We have seen a consistent increase in bed bug control service performed since the 'new normal' post-COVID-19 pandemic,' explained Terminix Technical Service Manager Eric Braun.
To make the list, the company used service data from more than 300 branches across the country. The city of Montgomery, Alabama, came in at 50.
'When looking at which states appear the most, Ohio, Texas, Florida, California, and Pennsylvania dominate, suggesting regional trends in infestations are likely tied to climate, housing trends, and travel hubs,' Terminix said.
for bed bug infestations.
Philadelphia
Philadelphia takes the top spot for the second consecutive year.
The City of Brotherly Love wasn't the only Pennsylvania hub on the list.
Pittsburgh was ranked number 15.
New York
This may seem fairly self-explanatory. The Big Apple has consistently ranked high.
But, New York is even higher on Terminix's list this year, climbing into the top five.
Cleveland-Akron
So, has Cleveland.
Terminix says its standing reflects continued struggles with these persistent pests.
Los Angeles
The City of Angels takes fourth.
Big urban areas with a lot of food and warm temperatures are where bed bugs thrive.
Dallas-Ft. Worth
Dallas-Fort Worth rounds out the top five.
The metropolitan area is frequently hit by summer storms.
Atlanta
Atlanta may take the sixth slot, but this southern hub isn't even in Orkin's top 10 cities.
Houston
Another Texas city!
Last year, another list from Pest Gnome ranked the city, with a population of more than 2 million, in its third spot.
Washington, D.C.
The nation's capital has been in Orkin's number one spot before.
San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose
On the West Coast, the San Francisco Bay Area also lands inside the top 10.
That may be surprising if you're looking for the city on Orkin's recent list. It came in at 41 last year.
Sacramento, Stockton, San Diego, and Modesto also rank within Terminix's top 50.
Indianapolis
Indiana's capital city might round out the top 10.
But don't be fooled. There are plenty of other Midwest cities, such as Dayton, Columbus, Chicago, and Cincinnati.
There are also cities in the South.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
31 minutes ago
- The Independent
If you struggle to stay fit, try adding these nine simple science-backed behaviours into your week
You wouldn't start building a house without laying firm foundations, yet people often focus on fitness minutiae without nailing the basics first. Splashing out on pricey high-tech recovery tools in the absence of a good night's sleep, or spending hours hunting down ' the best exercises ' with time that could be better spent on a simple-yet-effective workout – the former options are shiny and exciting, but the latter deliver the greatest benefits. This is something certified strength and conditioning coach Danny Matranga has repeatedly observed across thousands of sessions, training clients from all walks of life. Worse: when these nuanced interventions don't deliver noticeable results, people's motivation to maintain healthy habits tends to wane. 'An issue that people have is that they don't believe in themselves, and they don't believe they can use food and exercise to reposition themselves for better fitness,' he says. 'I hate when people give up, because there is a bunch of basic stuff you can try first.' Below, he shares the nine things you should try before labelling your fitness a lost cause. Ten-second takeaways: Lift weights two times per week. Aim for seven or more hours of sleep per night. Eat more plants and less processed food. Regulate your stress levels through meditation, mindfulness, nature exposure and managing your behaviours. Drink more water – at least 1.9 litres per day. Spend more time outside, particularly soon after you wake up. Lower your alcohol consumption to within the government guidelines of 14 units per week. If you are looking to build muscle and/or lose weight, aim to consume 1.6-2g of protein per kilogram of body weight each day. If not, aim for a minimum of 0.8g of protein per kilogram of body weight each day. Sit less and walk more, making conscious decisions to increase your opportunities to move. Try to aim for at least 7,000 steps per day or 10 per cent more than your current daily average, according to your phone, fitness tracker or smartwatch – whichever figure is lower. Tip one: Lift weights As a strength coach, this was always likely to be Matranga's top recommendation, but he has good reason to prioritise strength training. Not only is it the type of exercise he finds clients are most likely to stick with long-term, but it also offers immense benefits disproportionate to the amount of time you spend exercising. 'What you get out of weightlifting is improved strength, muscularity and confidence,' Matranga says. It will also strengthen your bones, tendons and ligaments while improving your mobility, leaving you more resilient against injury. Attempting to exercise without these attributes is an uphill struggle. But establishing a baseline level of strength by lifting weights a couple of times per week will increase physical capacity and autonomy, making exercise a more enjoyable proposition. 'If you can hold on to muscle while managing your appetite, you will grow stronger, rather than just getting smaller, and that can be a big driver of sticking with it,' Matranga adds. He also sings the praises of strength training for regulating blood sugar and appetite. This is because glucose – or blood sugar – is pulled into the cells of working muscles during exercise to be used as energy, which can help prevent sharp spikes and drops in blood sugar levels during the day. In a previous article, I spoke to him about the numerous benefits of weightlifting and how to begin strength training for longevity – a valuable resource if you're interested in giving it a try. You can also find a sample full-body dumbbell workout below. Tip two: Sleep more 'Another one that affects our appetite is sleep,' says Matranga. 'If we get less sleep than we need, everything is harder; saying yes to exercise, saying no to a beer. 'So if, like so many of us, your default programming is not aligned with exercising and healthy eating, trying to do those things in a state of chronic sleep deprivation is incredibly hard.' Science supports this. A randomised control trial published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that 'lack of sufficient sleep [in this case, five-and-a-half hours or less] may compromise the efficacy of typical dietary interventions for weight loss and related metabolic risk reduction'. In short: sleep deprivation made it harder to lose fat, while the study also found that ample sleep – eight-and-a-half hours each night – helped people maintain muscle while losing weight. But how much more sleep do you need? Swerving sleep deprivation by aiming for more than six or seven hours per night is vital, but beyond this, sleep needs can be subjective. 'This is where experimentation comes in,' The Sleep Scientist Dr Sophie Bostock tells me. 'Start with 15-20 minutes of extra sleep in the morning, then if you feel a bit better, consider half an hour.' Tip three: Eat more plants and less processed food 'Fast food and ultra-processed foods are where most Americans get most of their calories,' says California-based Matranga. 'They have lots of calories and very little nutrition. Fruits and vegetables are the opposite. They are very high in micronutrients, which help us function. They are also high in fibre, which is important for feeding our gut microbes, regulating our blood lipids [fats in the blood] and keeping us full.' Fellow trainer, author and fat loss specialist Ben Carpenter says fruit and vegetables can also benefit appetite regulation by replacing other less nutritious foods in our diet. To back this up, he points to research that found that promoting fruit consumption in children and adolescents actually decreased overall calorie consumption and reduced obesity prevalence. Meanwhile, a 2025 study published in Nature found that overweight or obese adults were able to lose significantly more weight on a diet of minimally processed foods than they were on an equivalent diet of ultra-processed foods. Tip four: Manage your stress I recently quizzed longevity specialist Dr Mohammed Enayat on what cost-free behaviours he would recommend for living as healthily as you can for as long as possible. Managing stress – through factors such as meditation, mindfulness and exposure to nature – was one of his four key pillars. 'The human organism is a combination of biological processes and the effects our environment has on us,' he explains. 'If we operate the human body in a toxic environment, we're exposed to bad things and toxins through diet and high stress, and this drives inefficiency and disease within our biology. That's why it's known that stress kills.' Managing stress is one of Matranga's top recommendations, too: 'If you want to live healthily and engage with exercise, you have to ask yourself: 'Is the amount of stress I'm carrying around affecting my diet and exercise compliance?' And if it is, are there things you can do to manage this stress? 'Maybe go for a walk, maybe talk to a counsellor, maybe do some breathwork. Whatever is causing this stress, it is not objectively healthy to carry around. Being chronically stressed is also a great excuse for not exercising, so we want to limit those excuses.' Tip five: Drink more water Like exercising and healthy eating, you probably already know that staying hydrated is good for you. But when a busy day runs away from you, it's not uncommon to find yourself parched come 5pm. Next thing you know, you're reaching for a fizzy drink to quench this thirst. 'Going back to ultra-processed foods, another big issue is that we get a lot of our fluids from calorie-rich drinks,' says Matranga. 'Most people should consume most of their fluids from water, which contains zero calories. It's very hydrating and also satiating, so this is probably the easiest tool on this list to use.' A systematic review of existing research, conducted at the University of California San Francisco, concluded that 'drinking enough water [a minimum of eight cups or roughly 1.9 litres per day, in most cases] can help with weight loss and prevent kidney stones, as well as migraines, urinary tract infections and low blood pressure'. Tip six: Get more sunlight It's widely known that sunlight can top up the body's vitamin D supply, although exposure has to be managed to prevent unwanted adverse effects such as sunburn. But the main benefits of this point lie in the secondary effects of getting outside. Sunlight in the morning can set your circadian rhythm – or your body's internal body clock – on the path to success, improving sleep quality and potentially improving your body's internal functions too. Meanwhile, research has linked nature exposure to improved health. A 2021 narrative review, appearing in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 'found evidence for associations between exposure to nature and improved cognitive function, brain activity, blood pressure, mental health, physical activity and sleep'. On a less scientific level, the act of going outside is also going to increase the amount you move, which is rarely a bad thing. 'I have never met a human who thrives sitting in an office all day,' says Matranga. 'We are organisms that evolved to be social and to be outside. For a lot of us, you might not be the type to go to a gym, but if you commit to going on a couple of 30-minute walks outside each day, that's going to be your exercise.' Tip seven: Reduce your alcohol intake You have likely seen articles on the internet or social media videos telling you what not to eat. Alcohol is the major factor missing from much of this content, in Matranga's eyes. 'It is unequivocally the worst thing we consume consistently,' he says. 'It is a known group one carcinogen [categorised by the International Agency for Research on Cancer ]; it increases your risk of disease; it increases your risk of getting bad sleep; and it has calories that make it harder to maintain a healthy weight. 'A lot of people could make tremendous strides with their health if they went from drinking excessively to just drinking in moderation. Alcohol consumption is the one habit I think both the United States and the United Kingdom have a crazy relationship with, compared to a lot of the rest of the world.' A chat with Professor David Nutt, a leading neuropsychopharmacologist and author of Drink? The New Science of Alcohol and Your Health, shed further light on why people struggle to reduce their alcohol intake. 'I think the question you have to ask is why people still drink,' he says. 'The answer is because alcohol is still the best drug or drink we have to relax you.' For this reason, giving it up is not on the table for most people, despite a 2023 release from the World Health Organisation stating that 'no level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health'. If this is the case, Nutt recommends sticking to the government guidelines around alcohol consumption to reduce your risk of related conditions such as cancer, liver cirrhosis and cardiovascular disease. 'The current guidelines are 14 units per week. If you can stick within those, the harms of alcohol are relatively minor. Most people who stick within these limits will not experience significant harm,' he explains. 'If you do drink, always have at least two days a week where you don't drink at all, because that allows your liver, heart and blood vessels to recover – but don't stockpile. If you're going to try and stick to the 14 units, don't take them in one go because that's going to be more deleterious to your brain.' Tip eight: Increase your protein intake 'Like eating more plants, this tip relates to the idea that, 'If I eat more of what's good for me, I'll have less room for what's not so good for me',' Matranga says. 'And just like fruit and vegetables, protein is very filling and often contains many other nutrients. 'It fuels our muscles and it costs a lot of calories to metabolise, so I find that if people add protein and veggies to their diet, and try to drop fast food, that little switch has a massive impact.' He recommends animal proteins such as beef, chicken, fish, eggs and yoghurt, as well as vegan sources like tempeh and tofu. Protein also has plenty of benefits beyond weight management, says FuelHub nutritionist Edward Mather. 'Proteins are essential for a variety of key physiological functions in the human body,' he explains. 'They play a critical role in muscle recovery, so consuming adequate amounts will help repair and rebuild muscle tissue following exercise, as well as facilitate the growth and maintenance of lean muscle mass. 'Proteins also provide structural support to cells and tissues, aid the transport and storage of key molecules, play a role in hormonal regulation and are involved in muscle contraction – along with many other things.' But how much protein do you need to eat per day? As a minimum, aim for 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight each day. If you are looking to lose weight and build or maintain muscle, this can be bumped up to 1.6-2g of protein per kilogram of body weight. Tip nine: Sit less, walk more Matranga often sees cases where people are walking an average of 3,500 steps per day, then eating 3,500 calories in the same time span. 'People sit so much that for every step they take, they eat one calorie, and that is an untenable mathematical equation,' he says. 'The number one way to fight back against that is to move more, because when you're moving, you're using energy, and you're probably not eating either.' Walking is one of the most accessible ways to do this, providing a low-cost exercise option open to most people. Yet it still offers plenty of benefits. 'Over the last two or three years, there have been a lot of large studies coming out looking at prospective associations between walking and health outcomes like all-cause mortality, which is a fancy way of saying any reason why someone would die,' says Dr Elroy Aguiar, an assistant professor of exercise science at the University of Alabama. 'These studies are showing that walking, not necessarily in huge volumes, is associated with large reductions in risk of all-cause mortality.' If you are looking for a daily step target to hit, recent research from the University of Granada states that 'if we focus on the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, most of the benefits are seen at around 7,000 steps per day'. However, if this target sounds unattainable, it is worth noting that any increase in your current daily number of steps – ie activity levels – is likely to deliver a net positive effect for your health. To implement this, try taking your current average daily number of steps from your phone, fitness tracker or smartwatch, then aiming to up it by 10 per cent each month until you reach 7,000 or more.
The Independent
31 minutes ago
- The Independent
Alabama teacher calls state's new law banning phones in class ‘magic'
An Alabama teacher has lauded the benefits of a new state law banning cell phones in school classrooms. 'It's magic,' Tuscaloosa County High School 11th-grade history teacher Jonathan Buchwalter said in a TikTok earlier this month that reached nearly two million views. Across the U.S., thirty-three states have enacted legislation regarding school cellphone usage, amid a growing effort to restrict students' smartphone access in schools, over concerns about mental health and academic attentiveness, according to 'Today, all of my students, 100% of them, took notes in my class, did their assignment, asked for help when they got stuck, and turned it in, and then when they were done, they talked to each other,' he said. Buchwalter explained it was still early days, and a complete assessment of the legislation's impact could only be determined at the end of the school year. 'I have been pulling my hair out for like, eight years. Has it been this easy a solution the whole time?' Buchwalter asked his followers in the video. Just days before Buchwalter revealed the benefits in his classroom, two studies identified links between problematic smartphone use (PSU) and depression, anxiety, and insomnia in teenagers. Almost half of teens have admitted to being online constantly, according to 2024 data from the Pew Research Center. While 72% said they sometimes or frequently check their notifications from the minute they wake up. 'They're chemically addicted to their phones,' Buchwalter said, adding, 'They cannot experience anything that isn't constant stimulation.' As of July this year, 26 states – Arizona, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Ohio, Oregon, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and West Virginia – enforced a full ban or cellphone limit in classrooms. Other state departments, including the Connecticut Department of Education, the Kansas Department of Education, and the Washington Department of Education, have opted to create policies that limit classroom usage. Meanwhile, Idaho Gov. Brad Little issued an executive order encouraging districts to limit cellphones in schools. In Alaska, Colorado, and Minnesota, legislation requires K-12 public school districts to adopt policies around student cellphone use; however, the laws do not specify how the policies should be implemented. Back in February, the National Center for Education Statistics outlined the benefits of the bans. 'The latest School Pulse Panel data underscore that school leaders see cell phones as more than just a classroom distraction,' said NCES Commissioner Peggy Carr. 'With 53 percent of school leaders reporting negative impacts of cell phone use on academic performance, and even more citing negative impacts on students' mental health and attention spans, schools are facing a critical issue. Schools are responding with practical solutions, like banning or restricting phone use.'
The Guardian
32 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘No Colon, Still Rollin'': Cass Bargell, US scrum-half and ostomy advocate, sets sights on World Cup
A few years ago, Cass Bargell gave a Ted Talk at Harvard, the same university where she studied integrative biology and played scrum-half, helping the Crimson to a national 15s title and earning nominations for US player of the year. Onstage, visibly nervous, she clutched a rugby ball as if for emotional support. 'I dropped the ball,' she says, laughing. 'They edited it out.' Bargell didn't drop the ball with her talk, which offered a compelling account of her traumatic experience with ulcerative colitis and her extraordinary recovery. It all began in late 2020, with alarming symptoms. Bargell kept playing through quickening pain but eventually, in November 2021, underwent ileostomy surgery to remove her colon and create a stoma, an opening in her abdomen to allow waste to pass. Just a few months later Bargell was back playing rugby, the sport she found as a middle-schooler in Summit, Colorado, as aggressive as ever but now wearing an ostomy bag. The title of her Ted Talk sums up her determination and her emergence as an advocate for life after surgery: No Colon, Still Rollin'. She has told her remarkable tale many times, including to former NFL Man of the Year and fellow patient Rolf Benirschke, for The Phoenix, official magazine of the United Ostomy Associations of America. But now, at 25 and eight times capped, Bargell is about to step onto the biggest stage of all – the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup in England, where the US kick-off against the hosts on Friday. Speaking to the Guardian, she said that though life with an ostomy had not 'gotten any easier … I think I've gotten a lot better at handling it. 'I think some things have actually gotten harder, in some ways. The longer I've had it, the more it feels like this daunting thing that's gonna go on for ever. And I think I have, like, those big emotional moments, but I'm a lot better at handling it day to day. I don't think about my bag and I know how to change it much faster now. I know how to handle my supplies.' Bargell's play gives no clues of her extra burden. In Washington in July against Fiji, as the Americans struggled to hold a narrowing lead, the 5ft 4in dynamo forced two crucial turnovers, stealing Fijiana ball at the ruck. Turning to the nearest reporter to ask 'Who's that flanker the Eagles brought on?', the Guardian was swiftly enlightened: not only was Bargell not a forward, but also, 'that's nothing: she plays with an ostomy bag.' Asked if that played on her mind during games, she said: 'No, I don't think about it. But I'm really lucky that I'm supported by my coaches too. 'When I'm playing and I get hit in the bag, I don't feel anything, I don't think anything. I just put the ball back strongly. But if we're in training and we're doing a drill … where we come up and hit each other and then backpedal, reload, come up at each other again, backpedal, reload, just like working on the constant up and back, as the attacker I was just getting hit straight in the bag over and over and over, and I was like, this never happens to me in a game, and I'm really uncomfortable. 'I wasn't hurt from it or anything. I just was like, that's wearing my bag down more than I need. And my coaches are like, perfect. 'No problem. You'll hold the pad next time.' So then everyone was in the line and I just had a [tackle] pad, and it was fine. 'So it's not like I love getting hit in the bag repetitively. It's just that when it happens, it's not a big deal. I also feel like my right fend has gotten much stronger since I got my ostomy. I don't like people getting that close, so when I can avoid it, I do.' She laughs again, and switches from hand-offs to helping hands, saluting the influence of Ilona Maher, the US center, Olympic sevens medalist and social media star who has fired global interest in the women's game. 'Ilona, the version you see on the internet is how she is,' Bargell says. 'She's, like, a fun, big personality. And also everything she says about there needs to be more stars [in women's rugby] and we need to lift more women up, she lives that and walks it with us. She's helped me so much with sharing my story, with all the social media stuff and everything she talks about in that world. 'On the field, she's fast and she's powerful and she's strong and she can pass, and she brings so much to our team. I love training with her. She's also a really strong organizer, which I don't think people can always see, but she does communicate a lot and helps us all.' Bargell, Maher and the rest of the Eagles may need all the help they can get on Friday: England are favorites to win the World Cup, having crushed rivals France in their final warm-up while the US lost to Canada, another title contender. Looking at that game, Bargell identified a failing familiar from the meeting with Fiji in DC: a strong start not maintained. 'The first half felt easy,' says Bargell, who will start on the bench behind Olivia Ortiz on Friday. 'It felt like that's what we practiced in training, and it was just about executing it. 'We've been working a lot on finding our energy right after half-time and being able to come out and start the second half the way we started the first half, because it really wasn't like we weren't surprising ourselves with what we were doing that first half. It was what we practiced. And so it's just about finding a way to keep that energy throughout the whole game.' Bargell is one of many Eagles who this year played in Women's Elite Rugby, the semi-pro league which has just completed its first season, with Bargell turning out for the Boston Banshees while working as a data analyst for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation. She speaks favorably of WER as a step up from the amateur game, if not at the level of Premiership Women's Rugby, where senior Eagles including Ortiz play, where Maher shone for Bristol, and in which England's Red Roses ply their fearsome trade. 'I think an interesting part about our team is that we really rise,' Bargell says. 'We rise to the occasion. And so I know we'll rise [against England]. 'It's an incredible opportunity to be a part of that opening match at all, and I know everyone's really excited for it. We've honestly just been focused on building our own systems. It's not like these past three weeks were only focused on England.' True: Australia and Samoa also await, two wins most likely needed to make the quarter-finals. Australia offer the sterner test. In Perth in May, the Wallaroos downed the Eagles, 29-17. Bargell remains confident. 'We all believe we have a lot of threats, and like who we are as players,' she says. 'And so if we can bring our team together in that way, then we can compete.'
