Houston does not have a dependable rat or roach season. Rodent work showed up in every one of the 21 months we counted, and the busiest month was January in 2025 but August in 2026. German roach treatments never stopped either. We counted 54,573 completed service visits in the Houston area from January 2025 through September 2026 to check the common advice that rodents are a winter problem. Here is what the visits show.
Quick answer
Not a dependable one. In the Houston area, rodent work appeared in every one of the 21 months from January 2025 through September 2026, and the busiest month was January in 2025 but August in 2026. German roach treatments also ran every month, from 8 to 39 visits a month. Rodent work made up the largest share of visits in Richmond, at 7.5%.
Dealing with this right now?
Rodents and roaches in Houston do not wait for a season. Stampede can inspect the house and find where they are getting in.
Rodent work never stopped
Across the 21 months there were 1,625 completed rodent visits in the Houston area, counting rodent control, trapping and exclusion work that seals the gaps rodents use to get in. The slowest month was June 2025 with 25 visits. The busiest was August 2026 with 157.
Every month had rodent work. If you are waiting for cold weather before dealing with noises in the attic, the visit counts give no reason to wait.
The peak month moved from winter to summer
In 2025, the winter story held up. January, February, November and December together carried 336 of the year's 666 rodent visits, or 50.5%. June through August 2025 carried only 90, or 13.5%.
In 2026, the pattern did not repeat. July, August and September were the three busiest months of the year so far, with 437 of the 959 rodent visits from January through September, or 45.6%.
Service records cannot say for certain why the busy months moved. What they do show is that one year's calendar is a poor guide to the next. Roof rats and mice in Houston have food, water and shelter all year, and they get into homes whenever a gap and a reason line up.
| Month | Rodent visits 2025 | Rodent visits 2026 | German roach visits 2025 | German roach visits 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 123 | 66 | 39 | 11 |
| February | 78 | 57 | 18 | 8 |
| March | 65 | 101 | 17 | 22 |
| April | 57 | 105 | 20 | 24 |
| May | 39 | 82 | 17 | 32 |
| June | 25 | 111 | 15 | 35 |
| July | 32 | 153 | 27 | 22 |
| August | 33 | 157 | 31 | 24 |
| September | 37 | 127 | 14 | 32 |
| October | 42 | Not yet counted | 20 | Not yet counted |
| November | 64 | Not yet counted | 8 | Not yet counted |
| December | 71 | Not yet counted | 13 | Not yet counted |
German roaches are a year-round indoor pest
There were 449 completed German roach treatment visits over the 21 months: 239 in 2025 and 210 from January through September 2026. Every month had at least 8 visits, and the busiest single month was January 2025, with 39.
That fits how German roaches live. They breed indoors, in kitchens and bathrooms, so outdoor weather has little to do with when an infestation takes off. A roach problem in December is just as real as one in July.
Where rodent work concentrates
For the 12 months from October 2025 through September 2026, we compared the share of all completed visits in each city that were rodent work. Richmond stood out: 105 of its 1,400 visits, or 7.5%, were rodent visits, more than double the 3.2% share in Houston proper and in Cypress.
Sugar Land (5.1%) and Katy (4.8%) were next. Cities with fewer than 30 rodent visits in the year are left out of the table.
| City | Completed visits | Rodent visits | Rodent share of visits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond | 1,400 | 105 | 7.5% |
| Sugar Land | 1,363 | 69 | 5.1% |
| Katy | 3,347 | 161 | 4.8% |
| Missouri City | 876 | 38 | 4.3% |
| Kingwood | 931 | 37 | 4.0% |
| Houston | 8,966 | 288 | 3.2% |
| Cypress | 3,156 | 102 | 3.2% |
| Spring | 2,200 | 65 | 3.0% |
Termites do have a season: April to June
Termites are the exception. Inspections for active termite activity have been logged as their own service in the Houston area since spring 2026. Of the 127 recorded from March through September 2026, 85 (67%) fell in April, May and June, and May alone had 39. That lines up with spring swarms, when winged termites leave an established colony and homeowners notice them.
How we counted
The sample is 54,573 completed service visits in the Houston area from January 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026. Cancelled and rescheduled appointments were left out. Rodent visits include rodent control, wildlife trapping, rodent and exclusion inspections, and exclusion work. German roach visits are treatments booked specifically for German roaches. The city comparison uses the 12 months from October 2025 through September 2026 and the city on each service address.
Visit counts measure when work was done, so they reflect when people noticed a problem and asked for help, not a count of animals. We do not publish a figure for any city, ZIP code or group of months with fewer than 30 visits behind it.
If you are hearing scratching in the walls or seeing roaches after dark, call (281) 972-4612 to set up an inspection.
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