How the mosquito control market looks in 2025

Even though the pandemic-era home-spending bubble has lost most of its air, top mosquito control providers are feeling good about 2025.

“We saw our biggest growth years in 2021 and 2022, and we’ve been in business since 2012,” says Patrick Vaillancourt, owner of Northern Turf Management in Van Buren, Maine. Mosquito control accounts for 5% of total sales and has grown in line with the company as a whole in recent years. “This year isn’t looking to be anything different,” Vaillancourt says.

Jeffrey Emerson has been offering mosquito and tick control since 2013. The service accounts for 90% of sales at his company, Mosquito Enemy in West Newbury, Mass. He is expecting to extend his company’s long streak of annual growth this year, partly due to improved client retention.

“There is always going to be some client turnover every year,” Emerson says. “As of early March, we were seeing a lot less than the average year. People still want mosquito control, and people still love doing business with local businesses.”

Ideal mosquito control customers

Many top mosquito control providers find the most success in the residential market. One key customer segment is younger couples with young children and pets. “These people are more concerned about natural-born diseases than most,” Vaillancourt says.

Some service providers have found that the typical customer is family-oriented, period.

“That can encompass everyone from starter families with dual-income parents, to grandparents who regularly babysit their grandchildren and want their backyard to be safe,” says Luke Cain, Mosquito Squad Plus Franchisee of the Year. Cain has two locations in Augusta, Ga., and Columbia, S.C.

“At the same time, even families in their early twenties who might not have as much disposable income are still making mosquito control a priority,” Cain adds. “Many homeowners now see mosquito control as a necessity versus a luxury item due to increased awareness of allergens and reactions to bites, insect-borne diseases, etc.”

Seasonal sales for mosquito control

Another lucrative customer segment is people who have what Vaillancourt calls “seasonal camps” around different lakes in Maine. Some are cottages, and some are fairly expensive houses. The bottom line? These customers are investing in a property where they want to spend time outside.

“We have a lot of middle-aged clients, and even seniors, who have these camps,” Vaillancourt says. “Summers can be pretty short up here. These customers look at mosquito control as a good investment so they can enjoy their outdoors while they have the chance.”

How to upsell mosquito control

Over in Ohio, Rob Reindl is also expecting solid growth this year. His focus is on upselling existing lawn and tree care clientele. According to Reindl, generating a lead for mosquito control, particularly online, can get pretty expensive for the revenue you can squeeze out of that lead.

“It seems to make more sense to grow your lawn and tree care business and then offer mosquito control as an additional service to those customers,” says Reindl, who is with Oasis Turf & Tree based in Loveland, Ohio. With multiple branches serving the Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio, markets, as well as northern Kentucky, the company sees 9% of turf and tree customers adding mosquito control. Less than 0.5% request mosquito control only.

When to start spraying for mosquitos

Mosquito control — like any lawn, tree or pest business — requires service providers to spring into action at precisely the right time.

Up in Massachusetts, Emerson likes to begin spraying by the third or fourth week of April, giving him a roughly 22-week season. “To be honest, it would probably be OK to start in May. But there are certain customers you could end up losing if they don’t see you out there early,” Emerson says.

A lot depends on the weather. Down South, for instance, a wet March might require crews to get started a week or two earlier than normal. The good thing is, crews can typically make a swift pivot to mosquito control.

“All we need to do is mix up the chemicals in a backpack sprayer and throw it on the truck,” says Jason Bishop, a regional manager at King Green based in Gainesville, Ga., which operates six branches in Georgia, one in South Carolina and one in North Carolina. “We want to do eight applications a year, one per month every 28 days.”

Vaillancourt says conditions are usually right to begin doing mosquito treatments in early May. That means the pressure is on in February to begin renewing contracts with existing clients, most of whom purchase a full suite of lawn and pest control services. Mid-April is when he starts marketing toward potential new customers.

Vaillancourt offers a combined mosquito/tick service. Thus, service delivery will often extend through October. For mosquitoes, depending on the conditions on the ground, he’ll scale back how high up they spray during that latter part of the season. “We also don’t treat as much open lawn area at that time,” Vaillancourt says. “We just focus on the dark and shaded areas where mosquitoes can still be a problem.”

It’s not unusual for Vaillancourt to receive calls throughout the summer when there has been a high level of mosquito pressure early on.

“When it’s an existing customer, we’ll just amend their program accordingly,” Vaillancourt says. “The nice thing is that mosquito control is a relatively quick service to deliver. We do the best we can with scheduling to minimize windshield time and bang out as many services in a day as possible.”

How adverse weather affects mosquito spraying

“Perimeter pest and mosquito control are the most weather-sensitive services we offer,” Vaillancourt says. “Rain is rain. But we also need to think about wind. When wind is right at the edge of our window, it’s not a good idea to make an application because of drift. Some product labels say it’s 15 mph, others might say 10 mph. State regulation in Maine is pretty much 15 mph across the board for any liquid application.

“Regardless, you have to monitor conditions and may have to delay a treatment once in a while. It’s important to educate the client about why their treatment might be 35 days from the last one, instead of the desired 30 days. But in the end, it’s in the client’s best interest to make sure the application produces the results they want.”

Managing customer expectations in mosquito control

Weather aside, some environments in general make it harder to produce the results customers are looking for. Case in point, Vaillancourt’s “summer camp” customers who have properties along a lake. Similarly, many of Emerson’s accounts are situated along the Massachusetts coastline. Needless to say, it’s a mosquito hotbed due to all the bogs. Managing client expectations is as important as delivering the services themselves.

“It’s impossible to get it to where the customer will never see a mosquito,” Emerson says. “When those bogs fill up during full moon high tide, it’s tough. A mosquito goes through its four stages in four days. So, four days later I always tell the customer that the product we put down is working, but those mosquitoes keep hatching and coming at you. When we spray the foliage around a property, that’s a million leaves providing protection. But there might be a billion little soldiers trying to break through, and some will.”

Emerson tells customers to expect a 70% reduction in mosquito population after the first application, 83% after the second and the low-90s one week after the third application. Of course, some customers simply expect perfection. Customer education is an ongoing process that’s built on trust.

Reindl says, “It’s very important for the customer to understand that 90% control is about the best you can hope for. A mosquito is a flying insect that has to come into contact with something we’ve treated. It’s different from tree and shrub protection or perimeter pest control where you’re essentially creating a protective barrier. You have to make sure the customer understands the difference.”

While many full-service turf and tree companies tend to schedule mosquito control on their lawn routes, Reindl likes his tree and shrub crews to handle it.

“We set up our tree and shrub vans to deliver both mosquito control and perimeter pest applications,” Reindl says. “Those services are offered at a discount to customers who’ve already purchased the tree-and-shrub services.”

First of all, Reindl says most tree-and-shrub applications use a general insecticide. The same is true with perimeter pest and mosquito control. Secondly, Reindl’s crews have found that a backpack sprayer is not the most productive solution for delivering mosquito applications.

“Technicians have to spray the undersides of tree limbs, around deck areas and all these different areas that need to be covered,” Reindl says. “They get a lot better coverage with a JD9 spray gun. Plus, they’re already dragging that hose around to spray trees and shrubs.”

While servicing a property, Reindl’s tree and shrub techs will also look around for potential mosquito breeding grounds such as bird baths, buckets or kids’ swimming pools that are full of water. If it’s something that needs to retain water, such as a rain barrel or flower pot, his technicians will often advise the client to look into purchasing a mosquito dunk.

Another regular topic of conversation is gutters. “If a customer has a gutter that’s sagging and holding onto water, that is a prime source of mosquitoes,” Reindl says.

Emerson has begun offering gutter cleaning as an add-on service. He says roughly 30% of his mosquito customers are buying it.

“We use a specialized piece of equipment that is designed for sucking water and debris out of gutters,” Emerson says. It’s along the lines of a Shop-Vac, only it has a carbon fiber pole that can reach 40 feet into the air. You can put a camera on the end of that pole to inspect gutters while looking at the video feed on your phone. “We’ve actually caught a glimpse of mosquito larvae in gutters before,” Emerson says.

Market your mosquito services

Top mosquito control companies agree that education continues to be a key piece to growing the business.

When Vaillancourt started his company in 2012, few people even knew about mosquito control. Most are aware of it nowadays, but most know little about how it actually works.

“We do sell quite a few treatments in the middle of the year,” Vaillancourt says. “When we’re on a property and notice a lot of mosquitoes, especially in more swampy areas, we’ll talk to the customer about how we can help them. Most end up adding it to their contracts.”

Bishop says most of King Green’s mosquito control customers also buy other lawn, tree and pest services. In many instances, it’s just a matter of making sure they know mosquito control is even available.

“It’s also a matter of education,” Bishop says. “We explain how these mosquito applications are safe. We don’t target pollinators or flowering shrubs. We target those areas where mosquitoes will typically nest. We’ll even use larvicides if we need to. It is a true IPM process we follow, and we’ll make any necessary adjustments on the fly. It’s important that our customers know this.”

The most effective marketing tactic for Bishop is well-timed marketing emails to existing clients. Then, to cast the net a little wider, informative and engaging social media posts can go a long way. “We like to post photos of families in their yards, swatting mosquitoes away," Bishop says. “We remind them of the dangers and aggravations mosquitoes can pose, and that we’re here to help if they need it.”

The author is a freelance writer based in Wisconsin.