New Jersey · Northeast

Tick risk in Essex County, New Jersey

Essex County covers 22 towns. Its CDC Lyme rate of 24 cases per 100,000 people a year ranks in the top 16% 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 Essex County

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

At the summer peak, tick risk across Essex County runs from Essex Fells Borough (moderate) at the high end to Newark (low) at the low end. The difference is habitat: forest cover across the county ranges from 16% to 88%, and more forest and woodland edge means more places ticks can quest for a host.

Essex Fells BoroughModerate risk
Glen Ridge BoroughModerate risk
Millburn TownshipModerate risk
Livingston TownshipModerate risk
North Caldwell BoroughModerate risk

Tick species in Essex 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 Essex 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)

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

Tick control in Essex County, NJ

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

How much does tick control cost in Essex County?

Most Essex 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 Essex County. No cost, no obligation.

Common questions about ticks in Essex County

Which towns in Essex County have the highest tick risk?

At the summer peak, Essex Fells Borough carries the highest modeled tick risk in Essex County, followed by Glen Ridge Borough, Millburn Township, Livingston Township, North Caldwell Borough. Risk tracks how wooded a town is: forest cover across Essex County ranges from 16% to 88%, and the more forest and woodland edge a town has, the more habitat ticks have to quest from. Newark sits at the low end. Every town has its own daily score, so check the one nearest you.

What ticks live in Essex County?

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

Essex County reports about 24 Lyme cases per 100,000 people a year (U.S. CDC), in the top 16% of U.S. counties for reported Lyme disease (the 19th-highest of New Jersey's 21 counties). Lyme is the dominant blacklegged-tick disease, so TickZone uses this county rate as the disease baseline behind every town's score.