As a life-long Illinois resident, I’ll admit that I’m sometimes bothered by all the criticism that Illinois takes from the rest of the nation–especially when so much of it is true.
The things that we’re number-one in aren’t really the things you want to brag about as a state:
- Highest property taxes in the nation
- Highest cell phone taxes in the nation
- Highest unemployment in the Midwest
- Governors who are super-familiar with the layout of a prison cell
I could go on, but I don’t want to depress myself or you. My point is that it would be nice to be number-one here in Illinois for something good, instead of property taxes, cellphone taxes, unemployment, incarcerated governors, and…rats and bedbugs.
For The 5th Straight Year, Chicago Has Been Named “Bedbug Capital Of America”
Chicago has topped Orkin’s 2025 list of the nation’s most bed bug-infested cities for the fifth consecutive year. The rankings are based on treatment data from May 15th, 2024, to May 14th, 2025, encompassing both residential and commercial bed bug treatments.
That title would be bad enough, until you consider that Chicago has also held the title of the most rat-infested city in the country for 6 straight years. Rats and bedbugs are really something that Chicago’s tourism board would much rather leave off of their “Visit Chicago” brochures…