Where Do Lone Star Ticks Actually Live in the US?

Lone Star Ticks live in 33 US states and are confirmed absent from 6 more, based on 31,928 verified iNaturalist and GBIF records. This page covers every state at once instead of one near-identical page per state.

By Tim, founder of Easy Street Markets. I maintain the wildlife database and verify every animal and source myself.

The states with the strongest confirmed populations are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware and Florida, and 27 more. These are real, verified iNaturalist and GBIF occurrence records, not modeled range estimates.

Lone Star Ticks have zero confirmed wild sightings in California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Utah, despite tens of thousands of nationwide observation records for the species. That is a real, checked absence, not a missing page.

A small number of states (10) have only a handful of unverified or vagrant records, too few to confirm lone star ticks as an established population there.

Confirmed states (33)

Not found (6)

California
Hawaii
Idaho
Nevada
Oregon
Utah

Unconfirmed (10)

Only a handful of unverified or vagrant records exist for lone star ticks in Arizona, Colorado, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, Wyoming, too few to confirm an established population.

Frequently asked questions

What states do lone star ticks live in?+

Lone Star Ticks have confirmed wild populations in 33 US states: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Where are lone star ticks not found in the US?+

Lone Star Ticks have no confirmed wild sightings in California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Utah.

Full lone star ticks guides by state