California · West
Tick risk in Santa Cruz County, California
Santa Cruz County covers 26 towns and carries the 2nd-highest tick-borne-disease baseline of California's 57 counties, with a Lyme rate of 5 cases per 100,000 people a year (0th of 0 counties in the West). Pick your town below for today's score, a 7-day outlook, and what's driving it.
Highest and lowest tick risk in Santa Cruz County
Peak-season modeled risk. Tick risk is local, even within one county.
At the summer peak, tick risk across Santa Cruz County runs from Lompico (moderate) at the high end to Watsonville (low) at the low end. The difference is habitat: forest cover across the county ranges from 12% to 99%, and more forest and woodland edge means more places ticks can quest for a host.
- LompicoModerate risk
- BrookdaleModerate risk
- Boulder CreekModerate risk
- Mount HermonModerate risk
- Day ValleyModerate risk
Tick species in Santa Cruz County
CDC county surveillance (established or reported)
- Deer tickReported
- American dog tickReported
- Lone star tickNot established
- Gulf Coast tickNot established
Reported in this county for the deer tick, the main Lyme carrier. “Not established” means no CDC surveillance record for Santa Cruz County, not that a town is tick free. Source: CDC tick surveillance (ArboNET Tick Module), 2025.
Diseases found in local ticks
No CDC tick-testing records for Santa Cruz County. That is a surveillance gap, not a sign these diseases are absent. Lyme and other tickborne illnesses occur across the region.
Tick control in Santa Cruz County, CA
Professional tick control across Santa Cruz County usually means a barrier treatment along the lawn edge, leaf litter, stone walls, and shady borders where ticks wait for a host, applied two to four times a season by a licensed pest control company. It is the single most effective way to cut tick numbers in the part of the yard your family actually uses, and it matters most in Santa Cruz County's more wooded towns.
How much does tick control cost in Santa Cruz County?
Most Santa Cruz County homeowners pay about $100 to $200 per visit for professional tick spraying, or roughly $350 to $600 for a full season of barrier treatments, depending on lot size and how wooded the property is. Quotes are free, so it costs nothing to get a real number for your yard.
From a vetted local tick exterminator serving Santa Cruz County. No cost, no obligation.
Common questions about ticks in Santa Cruz County
Which towns in Santa Cruz County have the highest tick risk?
At the summer peak, Lompico carries the highest modeled tick risk in Santa Cruz County, followed by Brookdale, Boulder Creek, Mount Hermon, Day Valley. Risk tracks how wooded a town is: forest cover across Santa Cruz County ranges from 12% to 99%, and the more forest and woodland edge a town has, the more habitat ticks have to quest from. Watsonville sits at the low end. Every town has its own daily score, so check the one nearest you.
What ticks live in Santa Cruz County?
CDC county surveillance does not yet list an established tick species for Santa Cruz County, but that reflects a surveillance gap, not absence. The blacklegged (deer) tick, the main Lyme carrier, is found across the west. Take the usual precautions after time outdoors.
Is Lyme disease common in Santa Cruz County?
Santa Cruz County reports about 5 Lyme cases per 100,000 people a year (U.S. CDC), the 2nd-highest of California's 57 counties. Lyme is the dominant blacklegged-tick disease, so TickZone uses this county rate as the disease baseline behind every town's score.
All towns in Santa Cruz County
Tick risk is local. Pick the town nearest you.