New Jersey · Northeast

Tick risk in Union County, New Jersey

Union County covers 21 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, American dog tick, and Lone star 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 Union County

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

At the summer peak, tick risk across Union County runs from Fanwood Borough (high) at the high end to Elizabeth (low) at the low end. The difference is habitat: forest cover across the county ranges from 11% to 86%, and more forest and woodland edge means more places ticks can quest for a host.

Tick species in Union County

CDC county surveillance (established or reported)

Deer tickEstablished
American dog tickEstablished
Lone star tickEstablished
Gulf Coast tickNot established

Established in this county for the deer tick, the main Lyme carrier. “Not established” means no CDC surveillance record for Union 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 Union County (CDC tick-testing surveillance, 2025). This lists what has been found, not how common it is.

Tick control in Union County, NJ

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

How much does tick control cost in Union County?

Most Union 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 Union County. No cost, no obligation.

Common questions about ticks in Union County

Which towns in Union County have the highest tick risk?

At the summer peak, Fanwood Borough carries the highest modeled tick risk in Union County, followed by Winfield Township, Mountainside Borough, Scotch Plains Township, Westfield. Risk tracks how wooded a town is: forest cover across Union County ranges from 11% to 86%, and the more forest and woodland edge a town has, the more habitat ticks have to quest from. Elizabeth sits at the low end. Every town has its own daily score, so check the one nearest you.

What ticks live in Union County?

CDC surveillance records 3 established tick species in Union County: Deer tick, American dog tick, Lone star 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 Union County?

Union 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 20th-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.

All towns in Union County

Tick risk is local. Pick the town nearest you.