Tick risk in Ford County, Illinois
Ford County covers 9 towns. CDC reports too few cases here to publish a county Lyme rate, but each town still has a daily score built from local weather, habitat, and season. Pick your town below for today's reading.
Highest and lowest tick risk in Ford County
Peak-season modeled risk. Tick risk is local, even within one county.
At the summer peak, tick risk across Ford County runs from Piper City (low) at the high end to Cabery (low) at the low end. The difference is habitat: forest cover across the county ranges from 11% to 36%, and more forest and woodland edge means more places ticks can quest for a host.
- Piper CityLow risk
- MelvinLow risk
- KemptonLow risk
- RobertsLow risk
- PaxtonLow risk
Tick species in Ford County
CDC county surveillance (established or reported)
- Deer tickEstablished
- American dog tickEstablished
- Lone star tickReported
- Gulf Coast tickNot established
Established in this county for the deer tick, the main Lyme carrier. “Not established” means no CDC surveillance record for Ford 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 Ford 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 Ford County, IL
Professional tick control across Ford 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 Ford County's more wooded towns.
How much does tick control cost in Ford County?
Most Ford 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 Ford County. No cost, no obligation.
Common questions about ticks in Ford County
Which towns in Ford County have the highest tick risk?
At the summer peak, Piper City carries the highest modeled tick risk in Ford County, followed by Melvin, Kempton, Roberts, Paxton. Risk tracks how wooded a town is: forest cover across Ford County ranges from 11% to 36%, and the more forest and woodland edge a town has, the more habitat ticks have to quest from. Cabery sits at the low end. Every town has its own daily score, so check the one nearest you.
What ticks live in Ford County?
CDC surveillance records 2 established tick species in Ford County: Deer tick, American dog tick. The blacklegged (deer) tick is the main carrier of Lyme disease in the Northeast. "Not established" for a species means there is no CDC surveillance record for the county, not that the tick is absent.
Is Lyme disease common in Ford County?
CDC reports too few cases in Ford County to publish a stable county Lyme rate, which is common in rural or low-population counties. That does not mean the risk is zero: Lyme and other tickborne illnesses occur across the Northeast.
All towns in Ford County
Tick risk is local. Pick the town nearest you.