Riskiest Towns For Ticks In NJ: A County-By-County Breakdown

With good weather many New Jersey residents have outdoor activities in their plans. Maybe you're just doing yardwork or maybe you're planning a hike or attending a county fair or a festival.

Outdoor activities bring the risk of tick exposure, and with that is the risk of tick-borne illnesses. With tick bite-related hospitalizations reaching record numbers in 2026, a new online tool allows residents to monitor their town's risk for ticks and tick-borne illnesses.

In April, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control reported that tick-related emergency room visits were at their highest level in a decade. As of June there had been 187 tick-related visits per 100,000 ER trips in the Northeast, according to the CDC, up from 71 per 100,000 in April.

Read more: ER Visits For Tick Bites At Highest Level In A Decade: What To Know In NJ

So where are you most at risk of encountering them in New Jersey? TickZone gives users the ability to learn how at-risk they are for tick bites, what kind of ticks are common in the area, what diseases they may carry, and how to best prevent getting bitten.

The online tool, created by Nathan Burnett, analyzes several factors and gives each town a score between 0 and 100 for tick-bite and disease risks.

The scores are calculated using these five signals:

• Current weather
• Each tick's seasonal activity
• Forest, edge, and open cover
• Deer-tick disease rate
• Which ticks live here, and severity

Burnett, who grew up in the Northeast, says ticks had always been "just part of life." It was when his brother contracted Lyme disease that things changed.

"He was lucky. We caught it early and antibiotics cleared it, but a lot of families are not that lucky, and the difference almost always comes down to awareness. That stuck with me," Burnett told Patch. "The frustrating part is that tick risk is intensely local; it can change street to street and week to week, and yet most people have no way to know when it is spiking where they live.

"I built TickZone to close that gap, a simple daily read on the risk in your own town, so people can take a few easy precautions before a bite instead of finding out the hard way," he continued. "If it helps one family catch something early the way mine did, it is worth it."

In addition to analyzing tick risks, TickZone provides resources for people to learn about tick and insect prevention services in their area.

The New Jersey county with the most glaring tick risk is Hunterdon County, which includes the top 10 highest-scoring towns in the state, with each town earning a score in the 90s.

The scores are broken into three categories: low (0 to 33), moderate (34 to 66), and high (67 to 100), reflecting the risks of encountering ticks that could bite and cause illness.

Here is the county-by-county breakdown of the most risky tick towns in the Garden State. Click on each town to learn more (data collected from Thursday, July 9):

Atlantic County

• Weymouth Township- High risk
• Mullica Township- High risk
• Hamilton Township- High risk
• Folsom Borough- High risk
• Estell Manor- High Risk

Bergen County

• Harrington Park Borough- Moderate risk
• Alpine Borough- Moderate risk
• Saddle River Borough- Moderate risk
• Ho-Ho-Kus Borough- Moderate risk
• Upper Saddle River Borough- Moderate risk

Burlington County

• Woodland Township- Moderate risk
• Medford Lakes Borough- Moderate risk
• Riverton Borough- Moderate risk
• Washington Township- Moderate risk
• Shamong Township- Moderate risk

Camden County

• Chesilhurst Borough- High risk
• Haddonfield Borough- Moderate risk
• Gibbsboro Borough- Moderate risk
• Waterford Township- Moderate risk
• Clementon Borough- Moderate risk

Cape May County

• Woodbine Borough- Moderate risk
• Dennis Township- Moderate risk
• Cape May Point Borough- Moderate risk
• Upper Township- Moderate risk
• Middle Township- Moderate risk

Cumberland County

• Maurice River Township- Moderate risk
• Millville- Moderate risk
• Commercial Township- Moderate risk
• Vineland- Moderate risk
• Downe Township- Moderate risk

Essex County

• Essex Fells Borough- Moderate risk
• Glen Ridge Borough- Moderate risk
• North Caldwell Borough- Moderate risk
• Millburn Township- Moderate risk
• Livingston Township- Moderate risk

Gloucester County

• Wenonah Borough- High risk
• Monroe Township- Moderate risk
• Woodbury Heights Borough- Moderate risk
• Pitman Borough- Moderate risk
• Franklin Township- Moderate risk

Hudson County

• Kearny- Low risk
• Secaucus- Low risk
• Weehawken Township- Low risk
• North Bergen Township- Low risk
• Jersey City- Low risk

Hunterdon County

• Stockton Borough- High risk
• Glen Gardner Borough- High risk
• High Bridge Borough- High risk
• Califon Borough- High risk
• Milford Borough- High risk

Mercer County

• Princeton- High risk
• Pennington Borough- High risk
• Hopewell Borough- High risk
• Lawrence Township- Moderate risk
• Hopewell Township- Moderate risk

Middlesex County

• Helmetta Borough- Moderate risk
• Old Bridge Township- Moderate risk
• Metuchen Borough- Moderate risk
• Spotswood Borough- Moderate risk
• East Brunswick Township- Moderate risk

Monmouth County

• Interlaken Borough- High risk
• Fair Haven Borough- High risk
• Little Silver Borough- High risk
• Roosevelt Borough- High risk
• Howell Township- High risk

Morris County

• Kinnelon Borough- High risk
• Jefferson Township- High risk
• Long Hill Township- High risk
• Boonton Township- High risk
• Mountain Lakes Borough- High risk

Ocean County

• Lacey Township- High risk
• Manchester Township- High risk
• Waretown (Ocean Township) -High risk
• Jackson Township- High risk
• Pine Beach Borough- High risk

Passaic County

• Ringwood Borough- High risk
• West Milford Township- High risk
• Bloomingdale Borough- High risk
• Wanaque Borough- High risk
• North Haledon Borough- High risk

Salem County

• Pittsgrove Township- Moderate risk
• Quinton Township- Moderate risk
• Alloway Township- Moderate risk
• Carneys Point Township- Moderate risk
• Penns Grove Borough- Moderate risk

Somerset County

• Warren Township- High risk
• Watchung Borough- High risk
• Green Brook Township- High risk
• Bernardsville Borough- High risk
• Bernards Township- High risk

Sussex County

• Byram Township- High risk
• Walpack Township- High risk
• Sandyston Township- High risk
• Hopatcong Borough- High risk
• Ogdensburg Borough- High risk

Union County

• Winfield Township- Moderate risk
• Fanwood Borough- Moderate risk
• Mountainside Borough- Moderate risk
• Berkeley Heights Township- Moderate risk
• Scotch Plains Township- Moderate risk

Warren County

• Hardwick Township- High risk
• Liberty Township- High risk
• Blairstown Township- High risk
• Frelinghuysen Township- High risk
• Oxford Township- High risk

Tick-bite illnesses and prevention

The New Jersey Department of Health says the two species that are of greatest importance for public health tracking are the blacklegged/deer tick, and the lone star tick.

While Lyme disease has been prevalent for more than two decades, several other tickborne diseases have been reported in the state in the last few years including anaplasmosis,babesiosis, Borrelia miyamotoi, ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, spotted fever group rickettsiosis, Powassan virus, tularemiaand Alpha-Gal Syndrome.

The state also offers these reminders about how to avoid tick bites while still enjoying the outdoors:

• Outfit yourself with light-colored, long sleeves and pants
• Treat clothing and gear with permethrin
• Inspect your body and your pets for ticks
• Choose to use EPA-registered insect repellent
• Keep to the center of trails; avoid brush and tall grass
• Shower within 2 hours after being outside to find/wash away ticks

TickZone provides free tick forecasts daily for more than 12,000 towns across 26 states, including 564 in New Jersey. Click here to learn more about the tool.