Wisconsin · Midwest

Tick risk in Dane County, Wisconsin

Dane County covers 59 towns. Its CDC Lyme rate of 48 cases per 100,000 people a year ranks in the top 11% 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 Dane County

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

At the summer peak, tick risk across Dane County runs from Maple Bluff (moderate) at the high end to Dane (low) at the low end. The difference is habitat: forest cover across the county ranges from 7% to 62%, and more forest and woodland edge means more places ticks can quest for a host.

Maple BluffModerate risk
VermontModerate risk
RockdaleModerate risk
Shorewood HillsModerate risk
Black EarthModerate risk

Tick species in Dane 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 Dane County, not that a town is tick free. Source: CDC tick surveillance (ArboNET Tick Module), 2025.

Diseases found in local ticks

Lyme diseaseAnaplasmosisBabesiosisBorrelia miyamotoi (relapsing fever)

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

Tick control in Dane County, WI

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

How much does tick control cost in Dane County?

Most Dane 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 Dane County. No cost, no obligation.

Common questions about ticks in Dane County

Which towns in Dane County have the highest tick risk?

At the summer peak, Maple Bluff carries the highest modeled tick risk in Dane County, followed by Vermont, Rockdale, Shorewood Hills, Black Earth. Risk tracks how wooded a town is: forest cover across Dane County ranges from 7% to 62%, and the more forest and woodland edge a town has, the more habitat ticks have to quest from. Dane sits at the low end. Every town has its own daily score, so check the one nearest you.

What ticks live in Dane County?

CDC surveillance records 3 established tick species in Dane 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 Dane County?

Dane County reports about 48 Lyme cases per 100,000 people a year (U.S. CDC), in the top 11% of U.S. counties for reported Lyme disease (the 63rd-highest of Wisconsin's 72 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 Dane County

Tick risk is local. Pick the town nearest you.