Which pests do Americans search for help with most?
We analyzed 10,206 pest-related Google searches mapped to 34 common pests, plus “pest control” demand across 648 U.S. cities. The most revealing pattern isn't which bug people search for — it's whether they're looking to handle it themselves or call a professional. Here's what the search data shows.
1. The pests people most want a professional for
Ranked by the share of each pest's searches that signal hire-a-pro intent. Two pests stand apart: fleas and termites — the problems homeowners are least likely to try to solve alone.
| Pest | Hire-a-pro | DIY | Research | Search terms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fleas | 49% | 24% | 26% | 475 |
| Termites | 46% | 18% | 36% | 368 |
| Cockroaches | 34% | 42% | 24% | 440 |
| Centipedes | 33% | 22% | 45% | 210 |
| Stink bugs | 24% | 51% | 25% | 323 |
| Silverfish | 23% | 44% | 33% | 213 |
| Crickets | 22% | 30% | 48% | 244 |
| Yellow jackets | 22% | 31% | 47% | 281 |
2. The pests people try to handle themselves
The flip side — highest DIY search intent. These are the “there's a YouTube video for this” pests, where people reach for a guide and a product before a phone.
| Pest | DIY | Hire-a-pro | Research |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gnats | 93% | 1% | 7% |
| Fruit flies | 93% | 0% | 7% |
| Mice | 83% | 8% | 9% |
| Moles | 80% | 5% | 16% |
| Mosquitoes | 80% | 2% | 18% |
| House flies | 72% | 1% | 27% |
| Ants | 71% | 11% | 17% |
| Rats | 69% | 16% | 15% |
3. Most-searched pests overall
By total tracked search volume (a relative measure of how much attention each pest gets):
| # | Pest | Relative search interest |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bed bugs | 37,235,500 |
| 2 | Hornets | 23,398,900 |
| 3 | Fleas | 15,349,200 |
| 4 | Fruit flies | 8,498,150 |
| 5 | Mice | 8,294,700 |
| 6 | Mosquitoes | 7,529,400 |
| 7 | Ants | 6,825,600 |
| 8 | Gnats | 6,016,240 |
| 9 | Spiders | 4,724,400 |
| 10 | Ticks | 4,054,700 |
4. The U.S. metros that search for pest control the most
“Pest control” searches per 1,000 residents (metros over 150k people) — which normalizes for city size. The leaderboard is a Sun Belt story: warm, humid Texas, Florida and the desert Southwest top the list, where pest pressure runs year-round.
| # | Metro | Searches / 1k residents | Monthly searches |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Columbus, GA | 14.3 | 2,900 |
| 2 | Orlando, FL | 14.1 | 3,600 |
| 3 | Las Vegas, NV | 13.4 | 8,100 |
| 4 | Baton Rouge, LA | 10.5 | 2,400 |
| 5 | Lubbock, TX | 10 | 2,400 |
| 6 | Pittsburgh, PA | 9.5 | 2,900 |
| 7 | Buffalo, NY | 9.3 | 2,400 |
| 8 | Corpus Christi, TX | 9.2 | 2,900 |
| 9 | Tampa, FL | 8.2 | 2,900 |
| 10 | Chesapeake, VA | 8.2 | 1,900 |
| 11 | Cape Coral, FL | 7.8 | 1,300 |
| 12 | Brownsville, TX | 7.1 | 1,300 |
By raw search volume (largest metros)
| # | Metro | Monthly “pest control” searches |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Las Vegas, NV | 8,100 |
| 2 | Houston, TX | 6,600 |
| 3 | San Antonio, TX | 5,400 |
| 4 | Phoenix, AZ | 5,400 |
| 5 | Dallas, TX | 4,400 |
| 6 | New York, NY | 4,400 |
| 7 | Tucson, AZ | 3,600 |
| 8 | Orlando, FL | 3,600 |
| 9 | Austin, TX | 3,600 |
| 10 | San Diego, CA | 3,600 |
| 11 | Philadelphia, PA | 2,900 |
| 12 | Sacramento, CA | 2,900 |
What it means
The DIY-vs-pro split is the practical takeaway. For pests like fleas, termites and cockroaches, most people are looking for a professional — these are recurring, structural or hard-to-fully-kill problems. For stink bugs, silverfish, gnats and fruit flies, searchers overwhelmingly want to do it themselves. If you're not sure which camp your problem falls in, our DIY guides cover the self-fixable ones step by step, and you can get free quotes from licensed local pros for the ones worth handing off.