Vermin survey finds Kansas City is among the leaders in the rat race

Aw, rats.

The government’s newest American Housing Survey places the Kansas City Missouri-Kansas metro area sixth out of the 25 most-populous metros in the United States when it comes to rats and mice seen in homes.

Slightly more than 10 percent of local households surveyed reported evidence of the pesky rodents.

The same survey names Kansas City 14th worst when it comes to cockroaches, with less than 10 percent reporting them.

The assessment, considered the most comprehensive housing survey in the nation, happens every two years. The Department of Housing and Urban Development sponsors it. The U.S. Census Bureau conducts it through an online survey of homeowners and renters in the country.

The survey asks people about the homes they live in, “how homeowners financed their abodes, the public subsidies renters enjoy, and an array of other information, including whether they think their neighborhood is safe, or whether their home is musty,” Bloomberg writes.

“Also, whether they have seen evidence of cockroaches, rats, and mice.”

With 41 percent of households in New Orleans reporting roaches in 2015, the year of the survey, the Mardi Gras city scored the ignominious most-roach-infested title among the 25 metro areas surveyed.

Philadelphia had the most rats and mice, with 18 percent of households there reporting the pesky rodents, according to Bloomberg’s number crunching.

In fact, the Northeast seems to have a particular rat problem, with Boston, New York and Washington, D.C. — no snickering — all following Philadelphia on that list.

And well done, New York.

It was the only city on the list to score double-digits for both vermin — 16 percent of households with reported roaches and 15 percent of households reporting rodents.

“To fully appreciate the size of the Big Apple’s pest population, it’s necessary to consider the numbers in aggregate: Some 1.1 million households saw evidence of cockroaches in 2015; 1.1 million saw mice or rats,” Bloomberg notes.

Only nine cities on the list were also included in the survey two years ago. Metro Kansas City was not one of them.

This story was originally published January 18, 2017 at 1:19 PM with the headline "Vermin survey finds Kansas City is among the leaders in the rat race."