Michigan · Midwest
Tick risk in Ottawa County, Michigan
Ottawa County covers 24 towns. Its CDC Lyme rate of 11 cases per 100,000 people a year ranks in the top 19% 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 Ottawa County
Peak-season modeled risk. Tick risk is local, even within one county.
At the summer peak, tick risk across Ottawa County runs from Port Sheldon (moderate) at the high end to Zeeland (low) at the low end. The difference is habitat: forest cover across the county ranges from 18% to 74%, and more forest and woodland edge means more places ticks can quest for a host.
- Port SheldonModerate risk
- Spring LakeModerate risk
- ParkModerate risk
- Grand HavenModerate risk
- CrockeryModerate risk
Tick species in Ottawa 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 Ottawa County, not that a town is tick free. Source: CDC tick surveillance (ArboNET Tick Module), 2025.
Diseases found in local ticks
Pathogens detected in ticks tested from Ottawa County (CDC tick-testing surveillance, 2025). This lists what has been found, not how common it is.
Tick control in Ottawa County, MI
Professional tick control across Ottawa 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 Ottawa County's more wooded towns.
How much does tick control cost in Ottawa County?
Most Ottawa 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 Ottawa County. No cost, no obligation.
Common questions about ticks in Ottawa County
Which towns in Ottawa County have the highest tick risk?
At the summer peak, Port Sheldon carries the highest modeled tick risk in Ottawa County, followed by Spring Lake, Park, Grand Haven, Crockery. Risk tracks how wooded a town is: forest cover across Ottawa County ranges from 18% to 74%, and the more forest and woodland edge a town has, the more habitat ticks have to quest from. Zeeland sits at the low end. Every town has its own daily score, so check the one nearest you.
What ticks live in Ottawa County?
CDC surveillance records 2 established tick species in Ottawa 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 Ottawa County?
Ottawa County reports about 11 Lyme cases per 100,000 people a year (U.S. CDC), in the top 19% of U.S. counties for reported Lyme disease (the 29th-highest of Michigan's 83 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 Ottawa County
Tick risk is local. Pick the town nearest you.