Pest Control Houston: $100 to $600 a Visit + Rules (2026)

We found no Houston price from a publisher we use. Every row is a national figure and is labeled that way; the company that answers quotes its own first-visit or inspection fee before anything is booked.

Do this now, before you call a Houston exterminator

1. If someone has trouble breathing, swelling of the face or throat, or dizziness after stings or bites, call 911. Everything else below can wait a few minutes.
2. Photograph what you saw and where: the insect, the droppings, the mud tube, the bite pattern. Keep a dead sample in a sealed bag if you can. A company identifies the pest before it prices anything, and NC State's advice for bed bugs applies everywhere: ask the technician to show you a live specimen from your home before you accept a treatment.
3. Do not spray store-bought products over the area first. Repellent sprays scatter roaches into new rooms (UC IPM) and hide the evidence a company would use to find the source.
4. If the swarm happened at night around a porch light in May or June, note the time. Texas A&M says Formosan termites swarm at night from early May through June and are drawn to lights, while native subterranean termites swarm by day; the species changes the treatment and the contract.
5. If you rent, put the problem in writing to the address where you pay rent. Texas Property Code 92.052 requires a landlord to make a diligent effort to repair a condition that materially affects the health or safety of an ordinary tenant once a current tenant gives notice, and 92.056 presumes 7 days is a reasonable time.

Is it urgent? What counts as a pest emergency in Houston

Three situations are worth a prompt call, and none of them is a verdict on your house: a wasp or hornet nest at a door, a deck or a play area; rodents inside a home with young children, since mice and rats gnaw wiring and contaminate food; and winged termites or shed wings inside the house, which Texas A&M and NC State both describe as the usual sign of an active colony in or under the structure. Formosan termites raise the stakes here: Texas A&M says a colony can pass 1 million insects within 5 years and attacks wood faster than native species, so swarmers indoors in late spring are worth a prompt inspection rather than a wait-and-see.

Everything else, a few ants at the sink, an occasional roach, a spider in the garage, can wait for a normal booking. HomeGuide's one-time visit range of $100 to $600 covers the ordinary cases; the high end belongs to bed bugs and termites, where the first visit is usually an inspection with a written quote.

Formosan termites in Houston: what a company would check

Harris County is where Formosan subterranean termites first turned up in Texas: Texas A&M's Extension bulletin E-367 dates the first infestation to 1956 near the Houston Ship Channel in Pasadena, and the species is now found in at least 30 Texas counties. Texas A&M says infestations are most likely on the upper Gulf Coast. Formosan soldiers have teardrop-shaped heads, release a sticky white fluid when disturbed, and the colonies build above-ground carton nests inside walls where moisture is available.

A company would look for mud tubes on the slab edge, piers and utility penetrations, probe wood that sounds dull, and check sills for shed wings. Two Texas-specific points from the bulletin matter before you sign: pre-construction soil treatment is the only treatment Texas calls "full" (later barrier work is "partial"), and some Texas termite contracts exclude Formosan termites, so ask which species the contract covers. HomeGuide prices Formosan treatment at $800 to $5,000 or more nationally against $225 to $2,500 for ordinary termite work. Costs by method are on termite treatment cost and the signs on signs of termites.

Fire ants, roaches and rodents in older Houston homes

Red imported fire ants cost Texas an estimated $1.2 billion a year, Texas A&M's fire ant project reports. HomeGuide's national range for ant treatment is $200 to $300, up to $1,200 for severe cases. Houston's housing stock also matters for roaches and rodents: the city's planning tables put the median home at 1982, with about 47% of the 1,040,576 units built in 1979 or earlier, and the 1970s the single largest decade. Older slab and pier-and-beam houses tend to have more unsealed penetrations, which is where a company would check first for mice and rats (HomeGuide: $150 to $550 for mice, $150 to $600 for rats).

Mosquitoes: Harris County sprays, you handle the yard

Harris County Public Health's Mosquito and Vector Control Division runs surveillance, virus testing and treatments across the county, with treatments between 8:30 pm and 5 am weather permitting and a Proposed Treatment Areas map online. Residents can report issues online or at (713) 440-4800. The county program covers county treatment areas, not individual yards on request; a private mosquito treatment runs $350 to $500 nationally per This Old House (March 2026).

Check a Houston pest control license before you book

The Texas Department of Agriculture's Structural Pest Control Service licenses every business and applicator that applies pesticides in and around structures in Texas. A business license needs insurance on file, and certified applicators complete continuing education every year. TDA posts current business licenses on its Structural Pest Control Business Publications page, and takes complaints through its SPCS complaint process. Ask the company for its TDA business license number and look it up before the visit.

Local pest rules and contacts for Houston, from official state, city and county pages unless marked.

More Houston repair guides

Moisture is what draws termites and roaches, so pair pest work with a Houston plumber for leaks and water damage restoration in Houston after a flood. Rodents in the attic often mean a roof gap: roof repair in Houston. Termite damage to piers: foundation repair in Houston. Compare pest control in San Antonio and pest control in Dallas. All pest pages: pest control. Calls go to an independent pest control company that serves your area and takes this kind of job (how calls work).