Tick risk in Washburn County, Wisconsin
Washburn County covers 4 towns and carries the 2nd-highest tick-borne-disease baseline of Wisconsin's 70 counties, with a Lyme rate of 428 cases per 100,000 people a year (0th of 0 counties in the Midwest). 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 Washburn County
Peak-season modeled risk. Tick risk is local, even within one county.
At the summer peak, tick risk across Washburn County runs from Shell Lake (high) at the high end to Minong (high) at the low end. The difference is habitat: forest cover across the county ranges from 40% to 57%, and more forest and woodland edge means more places ticks can quest for a host.
- Shell LakeHigh risk
- BirchwoodHigh risk
- SpoonerHigh risk
- MinongHigh risk
Tick species in Washburn 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 Washburn 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 Washburn 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 Washburn County, WI
Professional tick control across Washburn 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 Washburn County's more wooded towns.
How much does tick control cost in Washburn County?
Most Washburn 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 Washburn County. No cost, no obligation.
Common questions about ticks in Washburn County
Which towns in Washburn County have the highest tick risk?
At the summer peak, Shell Lake carries the highest modeled tick risk in Washburn County, followed by Birchwood, Spooner, Minong. Risk tracks how wooded a town is: forest cover across Washburn County ranges from 40% to 57%, and the more forest and woodland edge a town has, the more habitat ticks have to quest from. Minong sits at the low end. Every town has its own daily score, so check the one nearest you.
What ticks live in Washburn County?
CDC surveillance records 2 established tick species in Washburn 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 Washburn County?
Washburn County reports about 428 Lyme cases per 100,000 people a year (U.S. CDC), the 0th-highest of 0 counties in the Midwest and the 2nd-highest of Wisconsin's 70 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 Washburn County
Tick risk is local. Pick the town nearest you.