Pest Control in Texas

Texas pest pressure, metro by metro

Texas does not have one pest problem — it has one per metro, shaped by local weather:

• hot humid summers, heavy rain and mild winters in classic termite-and-ant country (Dallas–Fort Worth)
• long, hot, humid summers and mild winters that let pests breed nearly year-round (Houston)
• big temperature swings, wind and seasonal extremes that drive pests to structures for shelter (San Antonio)
• big temperature swings, wind and seasonal extremes that drive pests to structures for shelter (Austin)

Across the state we cover 81 counties within these metro areas. Browse the metro pages below, or see the Texas county index for county-level coverage.

Texas coverage in numbers

In numbers: the 23 covered metros in Texas hold about 28,488,936 residents between them, with Dallas–Fort Worth alone accounting for roughly 30% of that population. Coverage reaches 318 named communities and 1182 ZIP codes across 81 counties. The climate those metros share is not uniform: average annual temperatures run from about 59°F around Amarillo to 75°F around McAllen, and pest seasons lengthen or shorten accordingly — which is why each metro keeps its own page.

Read Texas through its largest metro: Dallas–Fort Worth homes have a median build year of 1992, with roughly 31% of the stock built before 1980 and 60% owner-occupied. Age like that means settled gaps at foundations, mature landscaping against walls, and crawlspaces that have hosted decades of seasons — the conditions the metro pest guides on this page are written around.

Texas metros at a glance

Dallas–Fort Worth — 8,477,157 residents, 11 counties. First on its watch list: subterranean termites, then mosquitoes and red imported fire ants — the pattern of a metro where hot humid summers, heavy rain and mild winters in classic termite-and-ant country.

Houston — 7,904,627 residents, 10 counties. First on its watch list: subterranean termites, then Formosan termites and mosquitoes — the pattern of a metro where long, hot, humid summers and mild winters that let pests breed nearly year-round.

San Antonio — a metro of 2,813,140 across 8 counties, where the watch list runs house mice, wasps and yellowjackets, crickets and earwigs — the standing pattern where big temperature swings, wind and seasonal extremes that drive pests to structures for shelter.

Austin — about 2,620,945 residents across 5 counties. The local watch list: house mice, wasps and yellowjackets and crickets and earwigs, in a metro where big temperature swings, wind and seasonal extremes that drive pests to structures for shelter.

McAllen — a metro of 921,549 across 1 counties, where the watch list runs house mice, wasps and yellowjackets, crickets and earwigs — the standing pattern where big temperature swings, wind and seasonal extremes that drive pests to structures for shelter.

El Paso — 881,291 residents, 2 counties. First on its watch list: bark scorpions, then drywood termites and roof rats — the pattern of a metro where extreme summer heat, very low rainfall and pests adapted to shelter in and around homes.

Killeen–Temple — a metro of 511,497 across 3 counties, where the watch list runs house mice, wasps and yellowjackets, crickets and earwigs — the standing pattern where big temperature swings, wind and seasonal extremes that drive pests to structures for shelter.

Corpus Christi — about 451,191 residents across 3 counties. The local watch list: house mice, wasps and yellowjackets and crickets and earwigs, in a metro where big temperature swings, wind and seasonal extremes that drive pests to structures for shelter.