Why Columbus Stays on the Bed Bug Cities List

What does the Orkin bed bug cities list actually measure?

The 2024 list ranks cities by the number of bed bug treatments Orkin performed between December 2022 and November 2023. That makes it a count of one company's jobs, not of every infestation in the city. A place where customers call that company often can rank higher than a place where people call someone else.

It is still useful. Columbus landed in the top fifteen of a ranking of 50 cities. Newer editions may place the city differently, so check the current list before quoting a number. What does not change is the pull of the local conditions below.

Why can a city move up or down the list?

Because the list follows one company's treatment counts, a move can reflect that company's customer base, its marketing or its branch coverage as much as real change in the city. A jump of a few places is noise. A city that holds a high place across several editions would be showing something more durable about its housing and travel patterns, so compare more than one year.

Why do bed bugs stay a problem in Columbus?

No one source explains it, but several local conditions stack up. Each one gives bed bugs an easy ride from one home to the next.

• Renting is common. About 56 percent of Columbus households rent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2019-23 American Community Survey. Shared walls and frequent move-ins and move-outs let bugs travel.
• Turnover is constant. Students, new hires and families relocating bring furniture and luggage from elsewhere.
• Travel is heavy. Hotels, an international airport and several interstates mean suitcases come through every day.
• Secondhand furniture moves freely. Couches, beds and dressers change hands through listings and curbs.
• Older housing has gaps. Cracks in baseboards, plaster and utility openings give bugs routes between units.

None of this means a Columbus home is doomed. It means the risk is higher than in a rural area with few apartments, and prevention habits pay off more here.

How does rental share differ across central Ohio?

Housing tenure explains part of the pattern, and it changes from one place to the next. These figures come from the Census Bureau's 2019-23 American Community Survey and from our area pages:

Read the table with care. A high rental share does not mean more bed bugs per home, and Bexley's older brick houses have their own pathways. What changes is how the problem travels. In Whitehall, shared walls and frequent turnover favor spread between units. In a lower-rental place such as Bexley, a single house tends to be the unit of the problem, usually after travel or secondhand furniture.

That difference shapes the first move. A renter should document and report in writing. An owner of a detached house should inspect, treat and check the used items that came in.

Is there a Central Ohio Bed Bug Task Force?

A Central Ohio Bed Bug Task Force did exist. Records show it held annual public and professional summits through at least 2018, and a 2017 Columbus Dispatch report called that year's meeting the tenth.

If you want current local guidance, start with Columbus Public Health. Its vector control page says the department does not inspect or provide treatment for bed bugs, so a household needs a pest company, and a renter needs the landlord involved. Check with the city before assuming any group is still running programs.

How does Franklin County fit into the picture?

Bed bugs do not stop at the city limits. People commute across Franklin County every day, and a bug that boards a bus in one suburb can arrive in a Columbus apartment by evening. College breaks, holiday travel and lease changeovers each add peaks.

The Columbus Health Code, as Columbus Public Health describes it, makes the owner of a dwelling with two or more units responsible for eliminating pests. For landlords that is a legal duty. For tenants it is a reason to report early and in writing.

What can a Columbus household do to lower the risk?

You cannot change the city's housing mix, but you can change what comes through your door. These habits are worth building into routines.

1. Inspect secondhand furniture in good light before it enters the home, especially seams, joints and the underside of cushions.
2. Unpack from trips with a plan. Our post on keeping bed bugs out after travel gives the steps.
3. Use a mattress encasement so seams have fewer hiding places and a bug is easier to spot.
4. Look at the bed and couch seams each time you wash the bedding.
5. Report sightings to a landlord or manager the day you see them, in writing.

Landlords and managers have more to gain from a routine. Our preventative bed bug treatment work centers on inspection schedules and records for properties with turnover.