The number of requests for mosquito service increased significantly (15%) or somewhat (48%) at service locations last year, according to the 2025 PCT State of the Mosquito Control Market survey.
What motivated people to buy? Mostly, the desire to enjoy outdoor spaces without being eaten alive, PMPs said in follow-up interviews.
“Typically, it’s more of a nuisance call,” said Zach Bahrke, operations director of Rose Pest Solutions, for why customers wanted mosquito control service in northern Illinois. “People just want to utilize their property, their entertainment area, pool, tennis court, fireplace.”
Fewer worried about diseases transmitted by mosquitoes. But calls from those customers can increase when local cases of West Nile virus (WNV) make headlines, said Bahrke.
WNV doesn’t motivate many people to purchase mosquito control in Scottsdale, Ariz., but when it does, those customers are anxious for a solution, said Chuck Wells, Mosquito Squad. “We’ve had people come to us who have had West Nile virus, and they’re just terrified of getting it again.”
For Lakeshore Pest Control in western Michigan — where six people died of eastern equine encephalitis in 2019 — it was fear of ticks that spurred growth of the company’s mosquito control program last year.
Customers who are dog owners gravitated to the company’s tick-and-mosquito control program, even though a stand-alone tick treatment was available, said Brent Marshall.
More than half (59%) of PMPs said their customers understand the risks of mosquito-borne diseases.
“Treating mosquitoes is one way our industry protects health and wellness,” said Denise Trad-Wartan, CEO of Trad’s Pest Control, Jacksonville, Fla.
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