Atlanta residents might want to check their mattresses tonight. The city remains firmly entrenched among America’s bed bug capitals, according to new data released Monday.
🐜 What We Know: Atlanta sits at number six on Terminix’s annual list of the most bed bug-infested cities in America. The pest control company compiled the rankings using service data from more than 300 branches nationwide.
Philadelphia claimed the dubious honor of first place, with New York City and Cleveland-Akron rounding out the top three. The timing couldn’t be more perfect—or terrifying—as summer travel season kicks into high gear.
🏠 Why It Matters: Bed bugs don’t just bite and cause itchy welts. They create psychological distress, disrupt sleep, and can cost thousands to eradicate. Once they move in, these tiny squatters prove remarkably difficult to evict. Just ask anyone who’s had to bag their entire wardrobe and sleep on the couch for weeks.
👀 Why This Should Catch Your Attention: Think you’re immune because you live in a nice neighborhood or keep a clean house? Think again. Bed bugs don’t check credit scores or cleaning schedules. They hitchhike on luggage, clothing, and furniture, making everyone from college students to CEOs potential hosts. And Atlanta’s position as a major travel hub creates the perfect storm for these persistent pests.
🧳 Take Action: Before settling into any hotel room, inspect mattress seams, headboards, and nearby furniture for small rust-colored stains or live bugs. Keep luggage off beds and floors during inspection. When returning home, unpack on hard surfaces away from bedrooms and run clothes through a high-heat dryer cycle for 30 minutes. If you spot bed bugs, resist the urge to DIY—professional help will save you time, money, and sanity in the long run.
🔮 What’s Next: With summer vacations, music festivals, and conventions filling Atlanta’s calendar, vigilance remains key. The city’s warm climate also provides ideal conditions for bed bugs to thrive year-round.
For more information on bed bug prevention and treatment, visit Terminix’s website. And maybe consider packing a travel-sized flashlight for your next hotel stay. Just saying.
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Before You Dismiss This Article…
We live in a time when information feels overwhelming, but here’s what hasn’t changed: facts exist whether they comfort us or not.
When A&W launched their third-pound burger to compete with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder in the 1980s, it failed spectacularly. Not because it tasted worse, but because customers thought 1/3 was smaller than 1/4. If basic math can trip us up, imagine how easily we can misread complex news.
The press isn’t against you when it reports something you don’t want to hear. Reporters are thermometers, not the fever itself. They’re telling you what verified sources are saying, not taking sides. Good reporting should challenge you — that’s literally the job.
Next time a story makes you angry, pause. Ask yourself: What evidence backs this up? Am I reacting with my brain or my gut? What would actually change my mind? And most importantly, am I assuming bias just because the story doesn’t match what I hoped to hear.
Smart readers choose verified information over their own comfort zone.
B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
