Boston Ranked Fourth Most Pest-Infested City in America

Rats and cockroaches and cockroaches and rats, oh my! New York pest company Doctor Sniffs is out with their yearly creepy crawly report about pests in the U.S. and this year the results aren't so happy happy for Boston.

Doctor Sniffs is a pretty cool company. They actually use trained dogs to help detect whether or not you have a bed bug problem. Want to see what that process is like? Ok, sure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJVqszicIbA

Now back to their findings, yuck. Doctor Sniffs focuses on rat and cockroach sightings to determine the pestiest cities of them all. I love that they count up the "sightings" like we're talking about alien life-forms or something. It makes me feel more X-Files and less ewwwwwwwww so I'm here for it.

Atlanta topped this year's pestiest list with a combined pest sighting rate of 165.9 per 100,000 residents. The breakdown: 115.3 rat sightings and a staggering 712.3 cockroach sightings, all in 2021. *shudder*

In second place, Miami had a combined pest sighting rate of 141 per 100,000 residents. The breakdown: 80.6 rat sightings and 543.1 cockroach sightings, all in one year. *shudder again*

Washington, D.C. ranks third in the yearly study, with a combined sighting rate of 83.7 per 100,000 residents. The breakdown: 348.6 rat sightings and 228.5 cockroach sightings. *sure I'll shudder again just to take us home to Boston*

Boston occupies the fourth spot on this year's nasty little countdown, with a combined pest sighting rate of 72.8 per 100,000 residents. Our breakdown: 417.8 rat sightings and 74.4 cockroach sightings. Soooo... what you're saying is we're way more ratty than roachy? Seems valid.

But there is some good news for us. While Boston has been branded as "very pesty" we're also "very safe."

A new Gallop poll compared the 16 biggest cities in the United States on the metric of public opinion of safety. So to be clear, Boston and Dallas aren’t necessarily the safest big cities in the country but according to the Gallop poll they are considered the safest by Americans.

If Dallas is the safety lock of the United States then Boston is the bubble wrap, according to a new Gallup poll. The poll compared the 16 biggest cities in the United States on the metric of public opinion of safety. So to be clear, Boston and Dallas aren't necessarily the safest big cities in the country but according to the Gallop poll they are considered the safest by Americans.

Gallop has been conducting public opinion polls for a mighty long time. Long enough to see trends, in fact. For example, comparing this question's responses in 2023 to responses to the same question back in 2006 uncovers some trends in public opinions about safety in certain cities. In 2023 Americans scored Boston's safety a 72 out of 100. In 2006 Boston scored a 69 on the same question, so it can be concluded that the public thinks Boston is getting safer. New Orleans took the biggest jump for the better. In 2006 it scored a 28. In 2023 it scores a 55. Chicago, on the other hand, took the worst slide. In 2006 Chicago came in with a 47 safety rating in the Gallop poll. In 2023 Chicago scored a 27. Sheesh.

So where does Boston rank? What did Americans rank as the safest and least-safe cities in the country? Let's take a peek right now. I'll give you the Top 4 and the Bottom 4. And if you want the rest of the rankings and methodology and so much more info that your brain may explode (this is a lovely problem for a data-head like myself) get Gallup's full report RIGHT HERE!

Oh and by the way, we may be considered safe in Massachusetts but it does come at a price (like I needed to tell you that). Here's how much more we pay for household bills than the US average. Buzz kill, I know. Sorry. Now on to the GOOD news!:

LAS VEGAS
#4 Safest
% who said the city is safe: 61%
% who said the city is UNsafe: 36%
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8mU-8lLhss

SEATTLE
#3 Safest
% who said the city is safe: 63%
% who said the city is UNsafe: 35%
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn6-FyVdjqA

BOSTON
#2 Safest
% who said the city is safe: 72%
% who said the city is UNsafe: 25%
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2Jlv-M5mnY&t=1s

DALLAS
#1 Safest
% who said the city is safe: 74%
% who said the city is UNsafe: 25%
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypzj60adq64

NEW YORK
#4 LEAST Safe
% who said the city is safe: 41%
% who said the city is UNsafe: 57%
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf2ma8A_MMw

LOS ANGELES
#3 LEAST Safe
% who said the city is safe: 41%
% who said the city is UNsafe: 58%
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcHvaIP8__o

CHICAGO
#2 LEAST Safe
% who said the city is safe: 27%
% who said the city is UNsafe: 70%
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSfZUUQQ_ik

DETROIT
#1 LEAST Safe
% who said the city is safe: 26%
% who said the city is UNsafe: 73%
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C28hbm1Phw