Tick risk in Carteret County, North Carolina

Carteret County covers 11 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 Carteret County

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

At the summer peak, tick risk across Carteret County runs from Cape Carteret (moderate) at the high end to Atlantic Beach (low) at the low end. The difference is habitat: forest cover across the county ranges from 13% to 76%, and more forest and woodland edge means more places ticks can quest for a host.

Tick species in Carteret County

CDC county surveillance (established or reported)

  • Deer tickEstablished
  • American dog tickReported
  • Lone star tickReported
  • Gulf Coast tickReported

Established in this county for the deer tick, the main Lyme carrier. “Not established” means no CDC surveillance record for Carteret 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 Carteret 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 Carteret County, NC

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

How much does tick control cost in Carteret County?

Most Carteret 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 Carteret County. No cost, no obligation.

Common questions about ticks in Carteret County

Which towns in Carteret County have the highest tick risk?

At the summer peak, Cape Carteret carries the highest modeled tick risk in Carteret County, followed by Newport, Pine Knoll Shores, Beaufort, Peletier. Risk tracks how wooded a town is: forest cover across Carteret County ranges from 13% to 76%, and the more forest and woodland edge a town has, the more habitat ticks have to quest from. Atlantic Beach sits at the low end. Every town has its own daily score, so check the one nearest you.

What ticks live in Carteret County?

CDC surveillance records one established tick species in Carteret County: Deer tick. The blacklegged (deer) tick is the main carrier of Lyme disease. "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 Carteret County?

CDC reports too few cases in Carteret 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 Carteret County

Tick risk is local. Pick the town nearest you.