What is the most common pest found in houses?

The most common pest found in houses in the United States, according to surveys by the National Pest Management Association and pest control companies, is ants, specifically odorous house ants and carpenter ants, followed closely by cockroaches and rodents. Ants are the number one nuisance pest reported by homeowners because they are highly social, form colonies with thousands of workers, and send scouts to find food, so when one ant finds crumbs in a kitchen, it leaves a pheromone trail that brings hundreds more, forming long visible trails along countertops, sinks, and baseboards. Odorous house ants are tiny black ants that love sweets and give off a coconut-like odor when crushed, and they are found in nearly every state and invade homes year-round but especially in spring and summer. Carpenter ants are larger black ants that excavate damp wood to build nests and can cause structural damage if left untreated. After ants, the second most common house pest is cockroaches, particularly German cockroaches which are small light-brown cockroaches that thrive in kitchens and bathrooms, contaminate food, and trigger allergies and asthma, especially in apartments and urban areas. House mice are the third most common, entering homes in fall seeking warmth and chewing wires and food packaging. Other common house pests include spiders, house flies, fruit flies, bed bugs, and pantry pests like weevils, but ants consistently rank first due to their ubiquity, persistence, and ability to enter through tiny cracks.