In 2024, Minnesota recorded 3,551 confirmed Lyme disease cases, one of the highest rates in the nation. In 2026, CDC’s Tick Bite Tracker shows that April set a near-decade-long record for tick-bite ER visits, and Minnesota is one of the top 14 states driving the surge. People who live, work, and recreate outdoors are in the heart of it.
Those numbers are part of why we made significant updates to our Tick Bite Tracker. The tool now reflects the most current data available from federal and state health agencies, and for the first time, it covers all of North America, including all 13 Canadian provinces and territories.
Here is what changed and what the data tells us.
The Data Needed to Catch Up
The original tracker was built using CDC surveillance data from 2016 to 2019. A lot has changed since then. Tick populations have expanded geographically. Reported case counts have climbed steadily. And in 2022, the CDC updated its national case definition for Lyme disease, allowing high-incidence states to report confirmed cases based on laboratory evidence alone. That change made the data more complete and more accurate than it had ever been.
We rebuilt the entire dataset using the most current available figures from three sources:
- CDC NNDSS 2023 data for all 50 U.S. states, covering Lyme disease, Anaplasmosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Ehrlichiosis
- Minnesota Department of Health 2024 data for Minnesota specifically
- Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) 2024 data for all Canadian provinces and territories
The difference in some states is significant. New York went from 4,567 reported Lyme cases in the old tracker to 22,173 in the updated version. Pennsylvania went from 5,234 to 16,671. Wisconsin went from 1,678 to 6,283. These increases reflect a combination of genuine disease growth and improved surveillance capture under the updated case definition.
Five Numbers That Put the Risk in Context
The following statistics come from peer-reviewed research, federal surveillance systems, and occupational health data. Together they paint a clear picture of where tick-borne disease stands today.
3,551 — Confirmed Lyme disease cases in Minnesota in 2024, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. Cases rose from 2,938 in 2023, a 21 percent increase in a single year. Minnesota is now a top-5 state nationally for Lyme disease burden.
97% — The percentage of U.S. Forest Service workers in the upper Midwest who reported finding ticks on themselves “always” or “most of the time” on the job, according to a study published in BMC Public Health (2020). Of those workers, 26 percent had a prior tick-borne disease diagnosis, and 88 percent of those cases occurred at work.
7x — Researchers at CIDRAP and the University of Minnesota estimate that the true burden of Lyme disease is approximately seven times higher than what surveillance systems capture. Applying that multiplier to Minnesota’s 2024 figure suggests the actual number of people affected may be closer to 25,000.
969 — The estimated number of workers per year who experience tick bites serious enough to cause lost work days, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Injuries Survey (2011-2020). Tick-borne disease is a documented and growing category of occupational illness.
104 — Emergency room visits for tick bites per 100,000 people recorded in April 2026, a near-decade high according to CDC’s Tick Bite Tracker. Minnesota was among the top 14 states contributing to that surge.
A Closer Look at Minnesota
The blacklegged tick, the primary vector for Lyme disease in this region, is now established across north-central and east-central Minnesota. These are the same areas heavily used for forestry, wildlife management, hunting, hiking, and trail recreation.
Beyond Lyme disease, the updated tracker reflects current Minnesota figures for other tick-borne diseases:
- Anaplasmosis: 627 confirmed cases in 2024
- Babesiosis: 89 confirmed cases in 2024
- Powassan Virus: 14 confirmed cases in 2024, a new record high for this rare but serious neurological disease
Powassan virus deserves particular attention. Unlike Lyme disease, which typically requires a tick to be attached for 36 to 48 hours before transmission, Powassan can be transmitted in as little as 15 minutes. There is no treatment. Awareness and prompt tick removal are the only defenses.
Canada Is Now on the Map
The Tick Bite Tracker now covers all 13 Canadian provinces and territories, reflecting PHAC 2024 data. This expansion matters because tick populations and tick-borne disease do not follow political borders. Canada has seen an 18-fold increase in Lyme disease cases over the past 15 years, driven largely by the northward expansion of blacklegged tick populations as climate and habitat conditions shift.
The provinces with the highest current burden are directly adjacent to the highest-risk U.S. states:
Nova Scotia has the highest per-capita Lyme disease rate in Canada at approximately 217 cases per 100,000 people, roughly 15 times the national average. For anyone traveling, working, or recreating across the northern border region, this geographic context is important.
How to Use the Updated Tracker
Every state and province on the map is color-coded by risk level, from deep red (Very High) through orange (High), yellow (Moderate), and green (Lower). Clicking on any region opens a detail panel showing the tick species present in that area, the diseases associated with those species, seasonal activity windows, and the most current case count data available.
Tick season in Minnesota and across much of the northern United States and Canada now runs from early spring through late fall. In some years and some locations, ticks remain active into December. The tracker is designed to help you understand what the risk looks like in your specific region before you head outdoors.
The updated Tick Bite Tracker is available now at [trailreadysolutions.com/tick-bite-tracker](https://trailreadysolutions.com/tick-bite-tracker/).
Data sources: Minnesota Department of Health (2024), CDC National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (2023), Public Health Agency of Canada Health Infobase (2024), CIDRAP/University of Minnesota (2024), BMC Public Health (2020), Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Injuries Survey (2011-2020), CDC Tick Bite Tracker (2026).
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