Maryland · South
Tick risk in Howard County, Maryland
Howard County covers 9 towns. Its CDC Lyme rate of 56 cases per 100,000 people a year ranks in the top 13% 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 Howard County
Peak-season modeled risk. Tick risk is local, even within one county.
At the summer peak, tick risk across Howard County runs from Scaggsville (moderate) at the high end to Fulton (moderate) at the low end. The difference is habitat: forest cover across the county ranges from 49% to 83%, and more forest and woodland edge means more places ticks can quest for a host.
- ScaggsvilleModerate risk
- Ellicott CityModerate risk
- IlchesterModerate risk
- SavageModerate risk
- ColumbiaModerate risk
Tick species in Howard 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 Howard 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 Howard 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 Howard County, MD
Professional tick control across Howard 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 Howard County's more wooded towns.
How much does tick control cost in Howard County?
Most Howard 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 Howard County. No cost, no obligation.
Common questions about ticks in Howard County
Which towns in Howard County have the highest tick risk?
At the summer peak, Scaggsville carries the highest modeled tick risk in Howard County, followed by Ellicott City, Ilchester, Savage, Columbia. Risk tracks how wooded a town is: forest cover across Howard County ranges from 49% to 83%, and the more forest and woodland edge a town has, the more habitat ticks have to quest from. Fulton sits at the low end. Every town has its own daily score, so check the one nearest you.
What ticks live in Howard County?
CDC surveillance records 3 established tick species in Howard 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 Howard County?
Howard County reports about 56 Lyme cases per 100,000 people a year (U.S. CDC), in the top 13% of U.S. counties for reported Lyme disease (the 9th-highest of Maryland's 24 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 Howard County
Tick risk is local. Pick the town nearest you.