Massachusetts · Northeast

Tick risk in Worcester County, Massachusetts

Worcester County covers 60 towns. Its CDC Lyme rate of 108 cases per 100,000 people a year ranks in the top 8% 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 Worcester County

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

At the summer peak, tick risk across Worcester County runs from Millville (high) at the high end to Worcester (moderate) at the low end. The difference is habitat: forest cover across the county ranges from 55% to 94%, and more forest and woodland edge means more places ticks can quest for a host.

MillvilleHigh risk
DouglasHigh risk
UptonHigh risk
PetershamHigh risk
RoyalstonHigh risk

Tick species in Worcester 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 Worcester County, not that a town is tick free. Source: CDC tick surveillance (ArboNET Tick Module), 2025.

Diseases found in local ticks

Lyme diseaseBabesiosisBorrelia miyamotoi (relapsing fever)Ehrlichiosis

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

Tick control in Worcester County, MA

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

How much does tick control cost in Worcester County?

Most Worcester 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 Worcester County. No cost, no obligation.

Common questions about ticks in Worcester County

Which towns in Worcester County have the highest tick risk?

At the summer peak, Millville carries the highest modeled tick risk in Worcester County, followed by Douglas, Upton, Petersham, Royalston. Risk tracks how wooded a town is: forest cover across Worcester County ranges from 55% to 94%, and the more forest and woodland edge a town has, the more habitat ticks have to quest from. Worcester sits at the low end. Every town has its own daily score, so check the one nearest you.

What ticks live in Worcester County?

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

Worcester County reports about 108 Lyme cases per 100,000 people a year (U.S. CDC), in the top 8% of U.S. counties for reported Lyme disease (the 9th-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 Worcester County

Tick risk is local. Pick the town nearest you.