Tick risk in Steele County, Minnesota
Steele County covers 4 towns and carries the 56th-highest tick-borne-disease baseline of Minnesota's 87 counties, with a Lyme rate of 16 cases per 100,000 people a year (0th of 0 counties in the Midwest). 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 Steele County
Peak-season modeled risk. Tick risk is local, even within one county.
At the summer peak, tick risk across Steele County runs from Owatonna (low) at the high end to Blooming Prairie (low) at the low end. The difference is habitat: forest cover across the county ranges from 19% to 30%, and more forest and woodland edge means more places ticks can quest for a host.
- OwatonnaLow risk
- MedfordLow risk
- EllendaleLow risk
- Blooming PrairieLow risk
Tick species in Steele 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 Steele 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 Steele 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 Steele County, MN
Professional tick control across Steele 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 Steele County's more wooded towns.
How much does tick control cost in Steele County?
Most Steele 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 Steele County. No cost, no obligation.
Common questions about ticks in Steele County
Which towns in Steele County have the highest tick risk?
At the summer peak, Owatonna carries the highest modeled tick risk in Steele County, followed by Medford, Ellendale, Blooming Prairie. Risk tracks how wooded a town is: forest cover across Steele County ranges from 19% to 30%, and the more forest and woodland edge a town has, the more habitat ticks have to quest from. Blooming Prairie sits at the low end. Every town has its own daily score, so check the one nearest you.
What ticks live in Steele County?
CDC surveillance records 2 established tick species in Steele 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 Steele County?
Steele County reports about 16 Lyme cases per 100,000 people a year (U.S. CDC), the 0th-highest of 0 counties in the Midwest and the 56th-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.
All towns in Steele County
Tick risk is local. Pick the town nearest you.