Michigan Tops U.S. Bedbug Risk List With 1-in-57 Odds as Summer Travel Season Peaks

A new report by casino.ca places Michigan at the top of the U.S. bedbug risk rankings, estimating travelers face 1-in-57 odds of encountering the pests there — the highest probability of any state in the nation. Warren, Michigan, claims the title of America's worst bedbug hot-spot city, followed by North Las Vegas, Nevada, and Madison, Wisconsin. The ranking draws on pest-control data from Orkin and Terminix, TripAdvisor hotel reviews from the three largest cities in each state, low-rated reviews flagging bedbugs, treatment records, and social-media posts.

State and City Rankings

Ohio placed second on the state-level risk list, with Maryland third, Pennsylvania fourth, and Wisconsin fifth. Hawaii emerged as the safest state for travelers, with Oregon second-lowest. On the city side, Warren led nationally, trailed by North Las Vegas and Madison.

Zachary DeVries, associate professor of urban entomology at the University of Kentucky, urged measured interpretation. The rankings reflect markets where large pest-control companies maintain a strong presence, he said, and may undercount rural exposure — where residents face comparable risk but have fewer professional remediation options available.

Why Warren, Michigan Leads the List

Dini Miller, professor of urban pest management at Virginia Tech University, offered a working theory for Warren's counterintuitive ranking: summer family visits. Travelers encountering bedbugs in private residences could carry them to hotels, driving up reported incidents in a city that draws few conventional tourists. Miller noted that a similar pattern of heightened media attention emerged around Paris Fashion Week and may be repeating amid World Cup-related travel.

Both researchers stressed that hotels are not the primary vector. Apartment complexes and private homes carry higher infestation rates. The elderly face particular exposure, Miller said, because reduced immune responses can blunt awareness of bites. Hotels have strong commercial incentive to stay clean — they change linens frequently, and laundering bedding kills bedbugs effectively.

How to Protect Yourself on the Road

DeVries recommended a brief visual sweep at check-in: scan mattress seams, behind the headboard, and on adjacent furniture. Miller, who visits infested homes multiple times monthly and has not brought a bedbug home in 20 years, advises running a sticky roller over clothing and upholstery and checking the soles of shoes. For frequent home-visitors, she recommends a personal folding chair and carrying belongings in a plastic tub with a snapping lid.

If exposure is suspected, 30 minutes in a dryer on high heat is generally sufficient. Persistent infestations warrant professional treatment. DeVries offered a measured close: bedbugs are now a fixture of modern life, and awareness is warranted — but the risk alone should not ground summer travel plans.