Texas, California, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Georgia top the list of states with the most ticks, based on pest control service demand in 2025. But the picture shifts depending on what you’re really asking: which states have the most ticks overall, which have the most dangerous tick-borne diseases, or which pose the greatest risk to people spending time outdoors. The answer to each question is different.
The 25 States With the Most Ticks
Terminix ranked states by the volume of tick control services residents used in 2025, giving a practical snapshot of where ticks cause the most problems for homeowners. The top ten:
- Texas
- California
- Florida
- Pennsylvania
- Georgia
- New Jersey
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
Rounding out the top 25 are Oklahoma, Arkansas, New York, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, West Virginia, Connecticut, Ohio, Kentucky, Missouri, Michigan, Delaware, Colorado, and Kansas. Warm climates, high humidity, and large stretches of wooded or grassy habitat drive tick populations in these states. Texas and Florida rank high partly because of their sheer size and year-round warmth, while northeastern states like Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Connecticut punch above their geographic weight because their forests and suburban landscapes create ideal conditions for the blacklegged tick, the species responsible for Lyme disease.
Where Tick-Borne Disease Risk Is Highest
A state can have enormous tick populations without being the most dangerous for disease, and vice versa. For Lyme disease, the Northeast dominates. New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey alone accounted for 47.4% of all Lyme disease cases nationwide from 2019 to 2022. New York’s counties held 19.0% of the national total, Pennsylvania followed at 17.1%, and New Jersey reported 11.2%.
Sixteen of the twenty counties most affected by Lyme disease sit in just those three states: seven in New York, six in New Jersey, and three in Pennsylvania. Nationally, reported Lyme cases jumped to about 89,468 in 2023, roughly 27 per 100,000 people, up from 19 per 100,000 the year before. At the other extreme, Hawaii and Oklahoma reported zero Lyme cases from 2019 to 2022. Hawaii has no blacklegged ticks at all, and in Oklahoma the infection rate among those ticks is extremely low.
For alpha-gal syndrome, a meat allergy triggered by lone star tick bites, the geographic hotspot shifts south and inland. Arkansas leads the country, with an estimated 31.2% of adults testing positive for the antibodies associated with this condition. Missouri follows at 26.0%, then Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, all above 21%. Across those five states combined, roughly one in four adults carries the antibody. By comparison, states without established lone star tick populations, like New Mexico (1.9%) and Washington (1.1%), see far lower rates.
The Three Ticks That Matter Most
Most of the disease risk in the U.S. comes from three tick species, each with a different geographic footprint.
The blacklegged tick (commonly called the deer tick) is the primary carrier of Lyme disease. It’s concentrated in the Northeast and upper Midwest but has been spreading steadily. Over the past 25 years, it has pushed into many new areas of the eastern United States. Ohio, for example, first detected established populations in 2010 in a single county. By 2023, blacklegged ticks were considered established in 61 Ohio counties and had been reported in nearly every county statewide. That pattern of rapid expansion is playing out across the eastern half of the country.
The lone star tick is the dominant species across the Southeast, South-Central states, and increasingly parts of the mid-Atlantic. It’s the tick behind alpha-gal syndrome and also transmits ehrlichiosis. States like Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky sit squarely in its core range.
The American dog tick is widespread across the eastern two-thirds of the country and parts of the Pacific coast. It’s the primary carrier of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a serious but less common infection.
When Ticks Are Most Active by Region
Tick season isn’t a single window. It shifts by region and species, and in some parts of the country it never fully stops.
Spring is the peak. May is the single “tickiest” month of the year nationwide, when adult American dog ticks and lone star ticks emerge in force alongside blacklegged ticks left over from fall. If you live anywhere in the eastern U.S., this is the month to be most vigilant.
Summer stays risky, though the threat is harder to see. Tick numbers in June through August can match spring levels, but the blacklegged ticks active during this period are in their nymphal stage, roughly the size of a poppy seed. These tiny nymphs are responsible for most Lyme disease transmission precisely because people don’t notice them.
Fall catches people off guard. Adult blacklegged ticks surge after the first frosts in the Northeast, right when hikers and leaf-peepers assume bug season is over. September through November is a second peak for Lyme disease risk in states like Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania.
Winter doesn’t eliminate ticks everywhere. In California, Oregon, Washington, and the Deep South, tick activity picks up during the cooler months of December through February, particularly from western blacklegged ticks on the Pacific coast.
Why Tick Ranges Keep Expanding
If you live in a state that didn’t used to have a tick problem, that may no longer be the case. Blacklegged ticks have been documented in counties and states where they weren’t found even a decade ago. Warmer winters allow ticks to survive in areas that once got cold enough to limit their populations. Expanding deer herds carry ticks into new territory. Suburban development that borders woodlands creates exactly the kind of fragmented, edge-heavy habitat where ticks thrive: shady, moist leaf litter steps from where people live and play.
The practical result is that the map of tick-heavy states is growing. States in the Midwest like Ohio, Michigan, and Missouri are seeing increasing blacklegged tick establishment. The lone star tick has been detected as far north as Maine and parts of the upper Midwest, well outside its traditional southeastern range. Colorado, historically considered low-risk, now ranks among the top 25 states for tick problems.
Reducing Your Risk in High-Tick States
If you’re in any of the top 25 states, a few habits make a measurable difference. Treating clothing and gear with permethrin (a spray available at most outdoor retailers) kills ticks on contact and lasts through several washes. When you come inside from wooded or grassy areas, tossing your clothes in a dryer on high heat for 10 minutes kills any ticks hiding in the fabric, even before washing.
Full-body tick checks after outdoor activity remain the single most effective way to prevent disease transmission. Most tick-borne infections require the tick to be attached for several hours before transmission occurs, so finding and removing ticks the same day dramatically lowers your risk. Pay attention to hidden spots: behind the ears, along the hairline, in the armpits, behind the knees, and around the waistband. In summer months, the nymphal ticks you’re looking for are tiny enough to mistake for a freckle or speck of dirt.
Around your yard, keeping grass short, clearing leaf litter, and creating a 3-foot gravel or wood chip barrier between your lawn and any wooded edge reduces the number of ticks that migrate into your living space. Ticks need moisture and shade to survive, so the drier and more open your yard, the less hospitable it is.