Minnesota · Midwest

Tick risk in Otter Tail County, Minnesota

Otter Tail County covers 82 towns. Its CDC Lyme rate of 78 cases per 100,000 people a year ranks in the top 10% 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 Otter Tail County

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

At the summer peak, tick risk across Otter Tail County runs from Dunn (moderate) at the high end to Western (low) at the low end. The difference is habitat: forest cover across the county ranges from 2% to 69%, and more forest and woodland edge means more places ticks can quest for a host.

DunnModerate risk
MaplewoodModerate risk
CandorModerate risk
LidaModerate risk
FoldenModerate risk

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

Diseases found in local ticks

Lyme diseaseAnaplasmosisBabesiosisLyme disease (B. mayonii)

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

Tick control in Otter Tail County, MN

Professional tick control across Otter Tail 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 Otter Tail County's more wooded towns.

How much does tick control cost in Otter Tail County?

Most Otter Tail 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 Otter Tail County. No cost, no obligation.

Common questions about ticks in Otter Tail County

Which towns in Otter Tail County have the highest tick risk?

At the summer peak, Dunn carries the highest modeled tick risk in Otter Tail County, followed by Maplewood, Candor, Lida, Folden. Risk tracks how wooded a town is: forest cover across Otter Tail County ranges from 2% to 69%, and the more forest and woodland edge a town has, the more habitat ticks have to quest from. Western sits at the low end. Every town has its own daily score, so check the one nearest you.

What ticks live in Otter Tail County?

CDC surveillance records 2 established tick species in Otter Tail 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 Otter Tail County?

Otter Tail County reports about 78 Lyme cases per 100,000 people a year (U.S. CDC), in the top 10% of U.S. counties for reported Lyme disease (the 25th-highest of Minnesota's 87 counties). Lyme is the dominant blacklegged-tick disease, so TickZone uses this county rate as the disease baseline behind every town's score.