The American cockroach is a peridomestic species, that is, it lives with people but generally outdoors in the yard, garage, basement, or sewer, etc. They are more often found in restaurants and bakeries, where there are outdoor areas nearby, especially unkempt dumpsters or alleys for them to live in. They are opportunistic feeders on a wide variety of foodstuffs from meat, grease, paper, rotting fruit, paper, or leather, etc. A clean home can become infested, too. They like to hide in cracks and crevices. They avoid light, like to be near other cockroaches, like high humdity, and like tight spaces. Look for and treat their colonies with an insecticide, with some residual activity. Seal up your house to prevent their entry.
American cockroach - Periplaneta americana (Linnaeus)
American cockroach
American Cockroach - Virginia Cooperative Extension