Massachusetts · Northeast

Tick risk in Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Middlesex County covers 54 towns. Its CDC Lyme rate of 62 cases per 100,000 people a year ranks in the top 11% 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 Middlesex County

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

At the summer peak, tick risk across Middlesex County runs from Winchester (moderate) at the high end to Everett (low) at the low end. The difference is habitat: forest cover across the county ranges from 14% to 92%, and more forest and woodland edge means more places ticks can quest for a host.

WinchesterModerate risk
CarlisleModerate risk
WestonModerate risk
AshlandModerate risk
ReadingModerate risk

Tick species in Middlesex 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 Middlesex 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 Middlesex 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 Middlesex County, MA

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

How much does tick control cost in Middlesex County?

Most Middlesex 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 Middlesex County. No cost, no obligation.

Common questions about ticks in Middlesex County

Which towns in Middlesex County have the highest tick risk?

At the summer peak, Winchester carries the highest modeled tick risk in Middlesex County, followed by Carlisle, Weston, Ashland, Reading. Risk tracks how wooded a town is: forest cover across Middlesex County ranges from 14% to 92%, and the more forest and woodland edge a town has, the more habitat ticks have to quest from. Everett sits at the low end. Every town has its own daily score, so check the one nearest you.

What ticks live in Middlesex County?

CDC surveillance records 2 established tick species in Middlesex 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 Middlesex County?

Middlesex County reports about 62 Lyme cases per 100,000 people a year (U.S. CDC), in the top 11% of U.S. counties for reported Lyme disease (the 11th-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 Middlesex County

Tick risk is local. Pick the town nearest you.