Missouri · Midwest
Tick risk in Shelby County, Missouri
Shelby County covers 6 towns. CDC reports too few cases here to publish a county Lyme rate, but each town still has a daily score built from local weather, habitat, and season. Pick your town below for today's reading.
Highest and lowest tick risk in Shelby County
Peak-season modeled risk. Tick risk is local, even within one county.
At the summer peak, tick risk across Shelby County runs from Bethel (low) at the high end to Shelbina (low) at the low end. The difference is habitat: forest cover across the county ranges from 13% to 38%, and more forest and woodland edge means more places ticks can quest for a host.
- BethelLow risk
- LeonardLow risk
- ShelbyvilleLow risk
- HunnewellLow risk
- ClarenceLow risk
Tick species in Shelby County
CDC county surveillance (established or reported)
- Deer tickNot established
- American dog tickReported
- Lone star tickNot established
- Gulf Coast tickNot established
Not established in this county for the deer tick, the main Lyme carrier. “Not established” means no CDC surveillance record for Shelby 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 Shelby 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 Shelby County, MO
Professional tick control across Shelby 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 Shelby County's more wooded towns.
How much does tick control cost in Shelby County?
Most Shelby 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 Shelby County. No cost, no obligation.
Common questions about ticks in Shelby County
Which towns in Shelby County have the highest tick risk?
At the summer peak, Bethel carries the highest modeled tick risk in Shelby County, followed by Leonard, Shelbyville, Hunnewell, Clarence. Risk tracks how wooded a town is: forest cover across Shelby County ranges from 13% to 38%, and the more forest and woodland edge a town has, the more habitat ticks have to quest from. Shelbina sits at the low end. Every town has its own daily score, so check the one nearest you.
What ticks live in Shelby County?
CDC county surveillance does not yet list an established tick species for Shelby County, but that reflects a surveillance gap, not absence. The blacklegged (deer) tick, the main Lyme carrier, is found across the midwest. Take the usual precautions after time outdoors.
Is Lyme disease common in Shelby County?
CDC reports too few cases in Shelby County to publish a stable county Lyme rate, which is common in rural or low-population counties, and typical this far south. That does not mean the risk is zero: the lone star tick, not Lyme, is the bigger local concern.
All towns in Shelby County
Tick risk is local. Pick the town nearest you.