Massachusetts · Northeast
Tick risk in Essex County, Massachusetts
Essex County covers 34 towns. Its CDC Lyme rate of 55 cases per 100,000 people a year ranks in the top 12% of U.S. counties for reported Lyme disease. 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 Essex County
Peak-season modeled risk. Tick risk is local, even within one county.
At the summer peak, tick risk across Essex County runs from Boxford (moderate) at the high end to Lawrence (low) at the low end. The difference is habitat: forest cover across the county ranges from 33% to 91%, and more forest and woodland edge means more places ticks can quest for a host.
- BoxfordModerate risk
- GeorgetownModerate risk
- Manchester-by-the-SeaModerate risk
- WenhamModerate risk
- LynnfieldModerate risk
Tick species in Essex County
CDC county surveillance (established or reported)
- Deer tickEstablished
- American dog tickEstablished
- Lone star tickNot established
- Gulf Coast tickNot established
Established in this county for the deer tick, the main Lyme carrier. “Not established” means no CDC surveillance record for Essex 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 Essex 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 Essex County, MA
Professional tick control across Essex 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 Essex County's more wooded towns.
How much does tick control cost in Essex County?
Most Essex 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 Essex County. No cost, no obligation.
Common questions about ticks in Essex County
Which towns in Essex County have the highest tick risk?
At the summer peak, Boxford carries the highest modeled tick risk in Essex County, followed by Georgetown, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Wenham, Lynnfield. Risk tracks how wooded a town is: forest cover across Essex County ranges from 33% to 91%, and the more forest and woodland edge a town has, the more habitat ticks have to quest from. Lawrence sits at the low end. Every town has its own daily score, so check the one nearest you.
What ticks live in Essex County?
CDC surveillance records 2 established tick species in Essex 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 Essex County?
Essex County reports about 55 Lyme cases per 100,000 people a year (U.S. CDC), in the top 12% of U.S. counties for reported Lyme disease (the 12th-highest of Massachusetts's 14 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 Essex County
Tick risk is local. Pick the town nearest you.