Are Apartments More Common For Bed Bugs?

Bed bugs are by far one of the worst pests that can infest your living environment. This is due to their minute size and their canny ability to hide in the most inconspicuous places; both of these factors lead to their growing abundance within residences. One question we often get asked is whether they are more common in apartments than in homes. The answer varies, as it often does when it comes to pest infestations.

To be able to answer whether or not bed bugs are more common in apartments, you must first understand how bed bugs spread. All it takes is one or two bed bugs attached to an article of clothing, luggage, mattress, or furniture to infest your living environment. Picture a scenario where you take public transportation to work on a daily basis. If the seats that you sit in on the bus or train are cloth, then you are susceptible to coming into contact with bed bugs. Or another scenario where you travel often and are constantly spending your nights in hotels. Just because the hotel room appears to be clean, it doesn’t mean that bed bugs aren’t present. Because bed bugs are so small and hide in hard to find areas, they are able to migrate from place to place and object to object without ever being found. Simply introducing one contaminated object into your apartment can case a complex-wide infestation.

Because apartments are so closely connected, bed bugs can easily migrate from one apartment to the next. This does not mean that apartments are more common for bed bugs, it simply means that if one apartment in your complex is infested, it is possible that yours could too become infested as the bed bugs find their way through the building.

So how can you tell if your apartment is infested or not? If you’re waking up with red bite marks on your skin, that could be a sign of bed bugs. These bites are often different than that of a mosquito. Bed bug bites usually come in groups of 3 and affect exposed areas of your skin when you sleep; like your arms, neck, face, and shoulders. For further evidence inspect your mattress and sheets for signs of small brown stains (bed bug droppings/dried blood) within the stitching, if present you could have bed bugs. All of these are great ways of searching for a bed bug presence; but the only way to rightfully determine if your apartment is infested is to have it inspected by a bed bug specialist.

Bed bugs are nasty pests that can be found thriving in any environment. If you live in an apartment, you could be more susceptible to bed bugs than others who live in a home. Remember, just because it looks clean that doesn’t mean that it can’t be contaminated. If you believe that your apartment is infested, notify your landlord and have them call a bed bug specialist to solve the problem for good.