By Shane Sentelle Updated January 23, 2024
Typical costs ranges from $30 to $50 per month.
- Average Cost of Pest Control Service
- Factors That Affect Pest Control Costs
- DIY Pest Control vs. Hiring a Professional Exterminator
- How to Choose a Pest Control Company
- Our Recommendation
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A general pest control plan costs from $400 to $950 per year or from $30 to $50 per month, on average. Sometimes, hiring a professional pest control service is necessary to get rid of a severe pest infestation. Pest control costs vary depending on the type of service you need, the level of infestation, your home’s size, and more. Your specific situation and whether you need ongoing or one-time treatment will determine the amount you’ll pay.
Read on for some averages based on our industry research, plus tips for choosing the best pest controlfor your home.
Average Cost of Pest Control Service
After secret shopping for quotes from top pest control companies, here are the average prices we received on a 3,000-square-foot home with three bedrooms and three bathrooms:
Payment Time Frame | Average Cost |
|---|---|
Annual | $400–$950 |
Monthly | $30–$50 |
Per visit | $80–$120 |
Initial visit | $130–$350 |
These general pest control plans provide preventative services with regularly scheduled visits from local technicians either quarterly or bimonthly to treat the interior and exterior of your home. They cover a wide range of common pests, such as co*ckroaches, ants, spiders, and beetles, but they don’t include specialty treatments against certain pests, such as termites and bed bugs.
Pest Control Cost
A general pest control plan costs from $400 to $950 per year, on average.
Pest Control Cost by Pest Type
Although you can expect to pay between $400 and $950 per year for general, full-service pest control, based on the quotes we’ve received from various exterminators, your prices may look different if you’re looking for an exterminator to perform a targeted pest control treatment.
It’s difficult to predict how much you’ll pay per pest since most treatments will be included in a general pest control plan. However, according to data from HomeAdvisor, which collects cost information from its large network of partner contractors, below are some average exterminator costs for each specific type of infestation:
Pest Type | Average Cost |
|---|---|
Ants | $100-$500 |
Bed bugs | $300–$5,000 |
co*ckroaches | $100–$400 |
Fleas | $75–$400 |
Lice | $50–$200 |
Mosquito | $100–$500 |
Moths | $150–$300 |
Rodents | $150–$500 |
Scorpions | $50–$300 |
Silverfish | $100–$300 |
Spiders | $100–$200 |
Termites | $2,000–$8,000 |
Ticks | $200–$500 |
Factors That Affect Pest Control Costs
Many variables are involved in pricing these services, making it difficult to know exactly how much to expect to pay for your pest control needs. When creating a quote, pest control companies will consider the following factors to provide pricing estimates:
- Types of pests in the home. The types of pests you’re battling can dictate how much you’ll pay for pest control. While general pest control services can prevent pest problems for a regular monthly fee, targeted termite extermination, for example, can cost up to thousands of dollars.
- Your home’s size. During your initial call with a professional exterminator, they’ll likely ask the square footage of your home and how many bedrooms and bathrooms it has. These numbers can affect how much treatment will be required and how expensive it will be.
- The size of your yard. The pest control representative will likely ask the size of your yard, since that can determine how much treatment will be needed on the exterior of your property to build a protective barrier against pests. If you don’t have the exact acreage, you can provide an estimate, or the technician can give a more accurate estimate once they visit your home.
- Your zip code. Pest control prices can vary based on your location, since some areas are more prone to pest issues than others. Additionally, if your home is far away from your nearest local exterminator, you may be charged extra for travel costs.
- Frequency of visits. If you sign up for a pest control plan with regularly scheduled visits, your cost will reflect your plan’s number of visits per year. For example, Terminix’s general pest control plan comes with quarterly visits, making it cheaper than some competitors that service your home bi-monthly.
- Level of infestation. Your infestation’s severity may require additional treatments or heavier use of products, which could increase the overall cost of your service. For instance, fumigations with tenting may be recommended for severe infestations, which can cost $1 to $4 per square foot, according to HomeAdvisor.
DIY Pest Control vs. Hiring a Professional Exterminator
From setting up homemade traps to putting out a potted Venus flytrap, many homeowners have tried to get rid of pests themselves. If you’re not ready to spend the money on a professional pest control service to handle your infestation or help prevent future pest problems, you can try your hand at do-it-yourself (DIY) pest control.
Although DIY pest control could save you money on hiring a professional, there are a few things to keep in mind before deciding not to call an exterminator:
- Some DIY methods can be less effective than what an exterminator can provide, since some pesticide products you may need aren’t available for regular consumers.
- Pesticides you buy from the store to treat your own home can be dangerous or harmful to you, your family members, or your pets if chemicals aren’t used properly.
- It can require you to spend hours doing your own research, whereas an exterminator has the knowledge and experience to know what to do immediately.
- You may need to try a few different methods before the treatment is effective, which means you’ll have to live with your infestation until you find something that works.
DIY Pest Control Cost
If you choose to go the DIY route to take care of your pest problems on your own, the amount you pay can vary depending on the products you need. If you’re willing to spend around $50 to $200, you could purchase a pest control kit with a range of products, including traps and chemicals.
Here are some general prices you can expect when shopping for pest control products based on our analysis of pest control retail prices on the market:
Pest Control Product | Average Cost |
|---|---|
General control kits | $50–$200 |
Insecticide | $10–$40 |
Indoor foggers | $10–$25 |
Mouse traps | $2–$50 |
The above prices are per-item, so keep in mind that the total cost could be considerably higher if you have a larger home with lots of coverage areas. In some cases, hiring a pest control company may end up being the most affordable option, since the technicians have the right amount of unique products on hand that may be needed for your property.
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How to Choose a Pest Control Company
If you’re leaning toward hiring an exterminator, you should take a few steps to help you pick the best pest control company for your home.
- Read third-party customer reviews. One of the first steps to choosing an exterminator is reading its reviews on third-party websites, such as Yelp, Google Reviews, or the Better Business Bureau. Avoid companies with lower overall ratings that have a higher percentage of complaints than positive reviews.
- Get quotes and speak with representatives. Many companies can provide quotes for general pest control services over the phone to give you an idea of how much you’ll pay based on your specific situation. We recommend calling a few providers and taking notes on what they offer, in addition to asking about their guarantees.
- Compare custom prices and plan options. Once you have a few quotes, you can compare those prices, treatment frequencies, guarantees, and overall plan coverage offered.
- Schedule an initial visit. Once you narrow down the best choice for you, schedule your appointment for a time that’s convenient for you. If you’re in a hurry to get an exterminator out to your property, many companies provide same-day service if they have technicians available.
Our Recommendation
Although professional pest control comes with a price tag, it can be a valuable addition to your regularly scheduled services to prevent creepy-crawlies from invading your home and yard. If you have a severe infestation from dangerous pests, such as termites and bed bugs, you may need to hire a professional to effectively eradicate them.
To identify the best pest control services, we’ve performed a deep analysis of pest control companies on the market, reading more than 1,000 reviews from third-party websites, listening to customer service call recordings, and comparing providers on dozens of factors, such as covered pests, reputation, and customer service.
Terminix is our overall top choice, as it combines a tremendous amount of experience in the industry with impressive guarantees, wide service availability, and more to provide quality service to homeowners. However, we recommend speaking with more than one company to ensure you get the best price and coverage for your home’s specific needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are pest control services worth the money?
Even if you rarely see pests in your home, purchasing a pest control plan can be worth the money for some peace of mind that creepy-crawlies won’t invade your space. Based on the quotes we received, full-service, general pest control plans can cost between $400 and $950 per year, depending on the provider. While DIY solutions are available, in many cases, it’s more convenient and efficient to call in the experts.
How often do I need pest control services?
The frequency of your pest control treatments can depend on a few factors, such as the types of pests you regularly see in your home, your location, the plan you choose, and what your pest control company offers.We recommend consulting with your technician during the initial visit to ensure your plan has the best frequency of visits. Additionally, many companies guarantee free return visits between scheduled treatments if pests come back unexpectedly, giving you flexibility on when you can call out your exterminator to your property.
What types of pests can cause the most damage?
According to the National Pest Management Association (NPMA), termites do an estimated $5 billion of structural damage each year in the United States, making them one of the most damaging pests to watch for in your home. Carpenter ants can also cause damage to wooden structures and can have a significant impact on their stability. Rodents are another damaging pest that can infest your property, gnawing through walls and chewing on your home’s wiring.
Do exterminators provide free estimates for pest control?
Most pest control companies provide free estimates for general pest control plans based on your home’s size and location. However, since pricing can significantly vary for specialty treatments, such as termite control and bed bug treatments, a technician may need to visit your home to give you an estimate based on the level of infestation.
How We Chose the Top Pest Control Companies
Our pest control research process starts with analyzing customer reviews on third-party websites such as the Better Business Bureau (BBB), Trustpilot, and Google Reviews. We then do a deep dive into each company’s website, service plans, and available cost information. We also secret shop the companies we review, reach out to representatives, and request quotes.
From there, we compile the information we’ve gathered and compare each company using our in-depth pest control methodology and review criteria. This process uses a series of factors that are important to our readers, and we score each company depending on how well they perform in each factor. For instance, companies that offer more guarantees for their service earned more points than others, and pest control plans with a larger range of covered pests earned more points than ones with fewer.
After analyzing dozens of residential and commercial pest control businesses through this process, we were able to determine the best pest control companies on the market.
