Mosquito city! Yeah, we’re coming for you

Everyone loves mosquitoes, right? OK, maybe that was too sarcastic to start this story off, but you do want to know their favorite cities to call home.

Orkin's 2026 Mosquito Cities List can give us some insight into where we’re seeing them the most. It’s important to note, though, that this list is “based on the number of new residential mosquito treatments,” so city population can play a role. 

Regardless, the facts below on where they’re at and why hold true. Find out if your city is a hotspot.

The dethroned chart topper: Atlanta

Atlanta held spot No. 1 for six straight years (2015–2020) and is now down to No. 5. Orkin says that this doesn’t mean the city got any get less buggy — the rest of the country caught up.

(MORE: These cities are the biggest mosquito hotspots for 2025)

Atlanta's signature pest is the tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus), an aggressive daytime biter that thrives in the city's heat and humidity. And Atlanta rarely gets a hard freeze, so the season runs eight-plus months.

The current number one spot: Los Angeles

After Atlanta’s six-year reign, a new city started a six-year run and has been sitting at the top ever since: Los Angeles.

The invasive yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti), also known as the "ankle biter," is a major culprit in this city’s rise in the rankings.

This species arrived via cargo shipments more than a decade ago and now infests 130-plus California cities. 

(MORE: Buzz off! The best and worst ways to keep mosquitoes away)

It breeds in as little as a quarter-inch of water, lays eggs that survive up to two years and bites aggressively all day, even through clothing.

Gulf weather winners: Houston and Dallas 

Houston and Dallas hold the No. 7 and 8 spots. 

They combine Gulf humidity, frequent rain, poor-draining clay soils and a dense network of bayous and retention ponds — which is an ideal breeding habitat. 

Northern city hot spots: Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and New York

Northern and Great Lakes cities — Chicago No. 2, New York No. 3, Detroit No. 4, Cleveland No. 9 — have their part to play too.

In urban areas, the northern house mosquito (Culex pipiens) — a West Nile vector — breeds in storm-drain catch basins, aided by concrete, flat terrain, flooding and poor drainage.

Climate change — and why more mosquitoes might be where you are next 

Climate change is lengthening the mosquito season, expanding their habitats and pushing activity northward.

In Michigan, for example, the fall season runs about a month longer than 20 years ago, with hatches as early as February.

(MORE: Mosquitoes have been found in Iceland for the first time and climate change is blamed)

“A pest issue that was once concentrated in the Southeast has evolved into a nationwide concern, [in] cities across every region,” Orkin says.

The top 50 and their ranking changes since 2025:

1. Los Angeles

2. Chicago

3. New York 

4. Detroit (+1)

5. Atlanta (-1)

6. Washington, D.C. (+2)

7. Houston (-1)

8. Dallas (-1)

9. Cleveland

10. Denver

11. Raleigh, N.C. (+2)

12. Charlotte, N.C. (+2)

13. Minneapolis (+6)

14. Philadelphia (-3)

15. Indianapolis (+1)

16. Tampa, Fla. (+2)

17. Miami (-5)

18. San Francisco (-3) 

19. Orlando, Fla. (-2)

20. Columbus, Ohio (+3)

21. Greenville, S.C. (+1)

22. Baltimore (-2)

23. Milwaukee (+15) 

24. Seattle (+2)

25. Nashville, Tenn. (-4) 

26. Oklahoma City (-2) 

27. Pittsburgh (+1) 

28. Grand Rapids, Mich. (-3)

29. Norfolk, Va. (-2)

30. Cincinnati (-1)

31. Richmond, Va. (-1)

32. St. Louis (+15)

33. Flint, Mich. (-2)

34. Boston (+6)

35. Knoxville, Tenn. (+1)

36. West Palm Beach, Fla. (+6)

37. Tulsa, Okla. (-5)

38. Albuquerque, N.M. (-3)

39. Sacramento, Calif. (new)

40. Phoenix (new)

41. San Antonio (-4)

42. Cedar Rapids, Iowa (-9)

43. Traverse City, Mich. (new)

44. Hartford, Conn. (+1)

45. San Diego (-6)

46. Columbia, S.C. (-5)

47. Springfield, Ill. (new)

48. Memphis, Tenn. (-14)

49. Greenville, N.C. (new)

50. Greensboro, N.C. (-5)

Content writer Ada Wood enjoys exploring the stories that science and climate teach us about our natural world and how it influences the way we live in it.