Northridge Pest Control, from CSUN Apartments to Ranch Homes

Laid over the City of Los Angeles neighborhood map, about nine-tenths of ZIP codes 91324 and 91325 fall inside Northridge. Census estimates for the two count about 25,400 homes. Roughly 12,200 are detached houses, while about 9,200 sit in buildings with 20 or more units, including some 5,000 in complexes of 50 units or more. The median home in each ZIP code was built in 1970, and about 6,600 homes date from the 1950s alone.

Each building type tends to bring its own pest problems. On older house lots, roof rats climb mature trees and run along fences and utility lines into attics, while ants trail in along foundations after irrigation or rain. In the big complexes, German cockroaches and bed bugs move through shared walls, plumbing chases and hallways, so one unit's problem rarely stays private.

That is why a Northridge visit starts with the kind of building you live in. For a house, we check the roofline, attic, garage and yard. For an apartment, we ask about the units next door and talk with the manager when a problem crosses walls. [4] [1] [2]

California State University, Northridge reported about 39,900 students and 3,654 campus bed spaces in September 2026, with 674 students on the housing waitlist for the year. The campus has its own ZIP code, 91330, where the Census counts roughly 2,500 residents, almost all of them in group quarters such as residence halls.

Fewer than one in ten CSUN students can live on campus, so the rest commute or rent nearby, often with roommates, sublets and secondhand furniture. UC researchers list dormitories, furnished apartments and used mattresses among the riskiest settings for bed bugs. Near campus, that risk likely peaks in late August and late May, when leases turn over.

Student renters should tell the manager in writing as soon as they suspect bed bugs or roaches. We can inspect the whole unit, explain the prep in English or Spanish and coordinate with the property so every roommate prepares at the same time. [5] [3] [26]

The earthquake that struck at about 4:30 a.m. on January 17, 1994 still defines Northridge for many people. At the Northridge Meadows apartments, the top two floors flattened the first, and 16 residents died. All 58 CSUN buildings were damaged, four were torn down, including the University Tower Apartments, and rebuilding the campus took about a decade.

Around campus, most housing was repaired rather than replaced. Census figures show only about 2,100 homes in ZIP codes 91324 and 91325 built in the 1990s, against more than 17,000 built before 1980. Decades of settling, patched stucco, re-routed pipes and replaced windows are likely to leave small gaps. Ants, spiders and mice use those gaps, so we look for them on every inspection. [9] [8] [1] [2]

The Greater Los Angeles County Vector Control District has found West Nile–positive mosquitoes in Northridge every season from 2022 through 2026. Its tables show 8 positive samples in 2022, 5 in 2023, 8 in 2024, 4 in 2025 and 7 so far in 2026. In 2024, no community in the district recorded more positives than Northridge.

Dead birds have tested positive here too: one in 2022, one in 2023 and three in 2026, the first found on June 23. This year's first positive mosquito sample was detected on June 11. Valley-wide, the county reported in August 2026 that its first West Nile death of the year was a San Fernando Valley resident. Half of the 15 county infections recorded by then were also in the Valley.

The state lists both invasive daytime-biting mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, as present in the City of Los Angeles, without a neighborhood breakdown. PesPro does not offer mosquito control. Report standing water or heavy biting to the district's Valley office in Sylmar, (818) 364-9589, or through GLAmosquito.org. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [18] [17] [15]

County health inspections have turned up pests in Northridge commercial kitchens. In April 2025, a restaurant on Roscoe Boulevard was closed for four days over a vermin infestation. In June 2025, an inspection of a restaurant on Reseda Boulevard near CSUN found live insects and rodents and led to a temporary closure.

For food businesses along Reseda, Roscoe, Nordhoff and Tampa, we schedule visits before opening or after closing. We use only products labeled for food areas, such as gel baits, insect growth regulators and mechanical traps. Every visit gets a written or digital log you can show the inspector who posts your letter grade. [19] [20]

Los Angeles County recorded 220 flea-borne typhus cases in 2025, the most on record, and 109 more by September 22, 2026. These are county-wide counts; no public report ties cases to Northridge. The county says infected fleas are commonly found on rats, stray cats and opossums.

The prevention steps overlap with rodent work: flea control for pets all year, no pet food left outdoors, and sealed openings under decks and into attics and crawl spaces. PesPro handles rats, mice and fleas but not wildlife. LA Animal Services, which runs the West Valley shelter in nearby Chatsworth, offers advice on keeping opossums and raccoons out but no longer traps wildlife itself. [21] [22] [23]