TickZone

Tick risk in Lake County, Illinois

Lake County covers 46 towns and carries the 8th-highest tick-borne-disease baseline of Illinois's 102 counties, with a Lyme rate of 5 cases per 100,000 people a year (0th of 0 counties in the Midwest). CDC surveillance lists Deer tick and American dog 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 (moderate) at the high end to Grayslake (low) at the low end. The difference is habitat: forest cover across the county ranges from 22% to 81%, and more forest and woodland edge means more places ticks can quest for a host.

Tick species in Lake 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 Lake 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 Lake 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 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, Mettawa, North Barrington, Lake Bluff. Risk tracks how wooded a town is: forest cover across Lake County ranges from 22% to 81%, and the more forest and woodland edge a town has, the more habitat ticks have to quest from. Grayslake 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 2 established tick species in Lake 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 Lake County?

Lake County reports about 5 Lyme cases per 100,000 people a year (U.S. CDC), the 0th-highest of 0 counties in the Midwest and 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.

All towns in Lake County

Tick risk is local. Pick the town nearest you.