Where Do Fire Ants Actually Live in the US?
Fire Ants live in 13 US states and are confirmed absent from 26 more, based on 24,654 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, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia and Louisiana, and 7 more. These are real, verified iNaturalist and GBIF occurrence records, not modeled range estimates.
Fire Ants have zero confirmed wild sightings in Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine and Michigan, or 16 other states, 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 (7) have only a handful of unverified or vagrant records, too few to confirm fire ants as an established population there.
Confirmed states (13)
Not found (26)
- Alaska
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- North Dakota
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Dakota
- Utah
- Vermont
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Unconfirmed (7)
Only a handful of unverified or vagrant records exist for fire ants in Arizona, Delaware, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, too few to confirm an established population.
Frequently asked questions
What states do fire ants live in?+
Fire Ants have confirmed wild populations in 13 US states: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Where are fire ants not found in the US?+
Fire Ants have no confirmed wild sightings in Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Full fire ants guides by state