I think the media focuses on low-income housing because those buildings are likely to have widespread improperly treated bed bug problems, infestations which cover 20-80% of the building and which go on for 6 months or 3 years, residents who are sleeping on the floor because they can’t buy a new bed.

It is definitely so that getting bed bugs when you live on a fixed income is the worst. Landlords of low-income housing (including sometimes government agencies and non-profits) sometimes mismanage things quite badly. Landlords of more expensive housing do too, but the tenants have more leverage.

I think bed bugs enter middle-class and upper-class homes all the time but in most cases are dealt with more quickly and discreetly. Many times, they cause great hardship.

Landlords of pricier buildings are more likely to deal with this problem properly (at least when a few people have it) in order to avoid losing even more money.

Homeowners are also unlikely to go on the news. What co-op owner would talk to the news about his/her bed bugs, or neighbors’ bed bugs? It reflects badly on the building and makes the co-op apartments values go down.

Just my impressions.

People on the forums are from a cross-section of society, from what I gather.

The evidence showing that bed bugs are not a universal problem is supported by this blog. Virtually every story involves low income housing. We’ve seen this movie before.