Wisconsin · Midwest
Tick risk in Polk County, Wisconsin
Polk County covers 35 towns. Its CDC Lyme rate of 214 cases per 100,000 people a year ranks in the top 4% of U.S. counties for reported Lyme disease. Pick your town below for today's score, a 7-day outlook, and what's driving it.
Highest and lowest tick risk in Polk County
Peak-season modeled risk. Tick risk is local, even within one county.
At the summer peak, tick risk across Polk County runs from Sterling (high) at the high end to Centuria (moderate) at the low end. The difference is habitat: forest cover across the county ranges from 27% to 73%, and more forest and woodland edge means more places ticks can quest for a host.
- SterlingHigh risk
- Clam FallsHigh risk
- LuckHigh risk
- JohnstownHigh risk
- LorainHigh risk
Tick species in Polk County
CDC county surveillance (established or reported)
- Deer tickReported
- American dog tickNot established
- Lone star tickReported
- Gulf Coast tickNot established
Reported in this county for the deer tick, the main Lyme carrier. “Not established” means no CDC surveillance record for Polk 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 Polk 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 Polk County, WI
Professional tick control across Polk 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 Polk County's more wooded towns.
How much does tick control cost in Polk County?
Most Polk 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 Polk County. No cost, no obligation.
Common questions about ticks in Polk County
Which towns in Polk County have the highest tick risk?
At the summer peak, Sterling carries the highest modeled tick risk in Polk County, followed by Clam Falls, Luck, Johnstown, Lorain. Risk tracks how wooded a town is: forest cover across Polk County ranges from 27% to 73%, and the more forest and woodland edge a town has, the more habitat ticks have to quest from. Centuria sits at the low end. Every town has its own daily score, so check the one nearest you.
What ticks live in Polk County?
CDC county surveillance does not yet list an established tick species for Polk 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 Polk County?
Polk County reports about 214 Lyme cases per 100,000 people a year (U.S. CDC), in the top 4% of U.S. counties for reported Lyme disease (the 22nd-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 Polk County
Tick risk is local. Pick the town nearest you.