Illinois · Midwest

Tick risk in Lake County, Illinois

Lake County covers 64 towns. Its CDC Lyme rate of 5 cases per 100,000 people a year ranks in the top 20% of U.S. counties for reported Lyme disease. CDC surveillance lists Deer tick, American dog tick, and Lone star tick as established here. Pick your town below for today's score, a 7-day outlook, and what's driving it.

Highest and lowest tick risk in Lake County

Peak-season modeled risk. Tick risk is local, even within one county.

At the summer peak, tick risk across Lake County runs from Tower Lakes (high) at the high end to Volo (low) at the low end. The difference is habitat: forest cover across the county ranges from 21% to 81%, and more forest and woodland edge means more places ticks can quest for a host.

Tower LakesHigh risk
RiverwoodsModerate risk
North BarringtonModerate risk
Lake ForestModerate risk
Lake BluffModerate risk

Tick species in Lake County

CDC county surveillance (established or reported)

Deer tickEstablished
American dog tickEstablished
Lone star tickEstablished
Gulf Coast tickNot established

Established in this county for the deer tick, the main Lyme carrier. “Not established” means no CDC surveillance record for Lake County, not that a town is tick free. Source: CDC tick surveillance (ArboNET Tick Module), 2025.

Diseases found in local ticks

Lyme diseaseAnaplasmosisBabesiosisBorrelia miyamotoi (relapsing fever)Ehrlichiosis

Pathogens detected in ticks tested from Lake County (CDC tick-testing surveillance, 2025). This lists what has been found, not how common it is.

Tick control in Lake County, IL

Professional tick control across Lake 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 Lake County's more wooded towns.

How much does tick control cost in Lake County?

Most Lake 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.

Get a free tick control quote

From a vetted local tick exterminator serving Lake County. No cost, no obligation.

Common questions about ticks in Lake County

Which towns in Lake County have the highest tick risk?

At the summer peak, Tower Lakes carries the highest modeled tick risk in Lake County, followed by Riverwoods, North Barrington, Lake Forest, Lake Bluff. Risk tracks how wooded a town is: forest cover across Lake County ranges from 21% to 81%, and the more forest and woodland edge a town has, the more habitat ticks have to quest from. Volo sits at the low end. Every town has its own daily score, so check the one nearest you.

What ticks live in Lake County?

CDC surveillance records 3 established tick species in Lake County: Deer tick, American dog tick, Lone star 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 Lake County?

Lake County reports about 5 Lyme cases per 100,000 people a year (U.S. CDC), in the top 20% of U.S. counties for reported Lyme disease (the 8th-highest of Illinois's 102 counties). Lyme is the dominant blacklegged-tick disease, so TickZone uses this county rate as the disease baseline behind every town's score.