Ann Arbor particulars
Ann Arbor's police animal control, working with the Humane Society of Huron Valley at 734-662-5585, says it does not remove skunks or bats and tells residents to find a private pest control service. For a bat, though, the order matters. If there was contact, or one was in a room with someone asleep, call the county health office first, because DNR treats that as a potential rabies exposure. The city's IPM page covers lawn and garden practices, not houses.
Washtenaw County's health topics include pages for mosquitoes, Lyme and ticks, bed bugs and a Fight the Bite page, though we cannot say what most of those pages tell you, so ask the county health department. MDHHS's October 16, 2026 summary lists Washtenaw County among those with West Nile-positive mosquito pools and one Jamestown Canyon-positive pool. Ann Arbor has 121,179 residents, 64.3 percent of homes built before 1980 and a median home value of $435,100 (Census ACS 2023).
At that value, read the seller disclosure's question about termite and carpenter ant history closely. Applicators are licensed by MDARD under MCL 324.8328, not by the city. Ypsilanti, 6.0 miles away, shares the county.
Rodents in Ann Arbor: what to know
The county health department lists a rats-and-mice prevention page among its health topics, so treat it as a place to look for local advice. Across Ann Arbor, 64.3 percent of homes were built before 1980, with 121,179 residents and a median home value of $435,100 (Census ACS 2023).
For the work itself, the EPA says to remove food, water and shelter and seal holes with steel wool or a patch, and says rodenticides are mostly anticoagulants that kill four days to two weeks after feeding. MDARD licenses the applicator, and a company must give you the target pest, the active ingredients and the label's precautions at each application.
Permits for rodents in Ann Arbor
MDARD's category 7D covers using pesticides against vertebrate pests such as birds, rats and mice, and 7A covers pests in and around dwellings.
Many cities run their own building department, so start by asking the City of Ann Arbor building department who issues pest control permits.
Rodents: urgent or not
- Droppings or chewed packaging in a space where you prepare or store food: clean up, seal the food, and book the same week.
- A single mouse sighting with no droppings in food areas.
- Noises in a wall or ceiling that stop in daylight.
What to try before you call
Try this first: look for the county's rats-and-mice page and compare its advice with the company's quote.
- Put food in sealed containers and clean up spills and standing water.
- Find holes by looking along the walls and floors for droppings and chewing.
- Seal what you can reach with steel wool or a patch.
- Note where you see the signs and photograph them.
- Ask the company to show you every entry point it found.
What rodents cost
The estimate below is the Michigan-wide one, adjusted for Michigan wages and not for Ann Arbor in particular. The same table is on the rodents page. How we estimate costs. Prices as of Oct 19, 2026.
| Item | Figure | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated range, not a quote | $125 to $680 per job | Built from one national published range, adjusted by the Michigan pest control worker median wage ratio (0.98). No Michigan pest control company price is shown, because none of the companies we looked at published a regular price. |
| Pest control worker wage, Michigan median | $21.38 an hour | What pest control workers are paid (O*NET republishing BLS, May 2025), not what you are charged. Percentile data, not re-checked against the BLS table. |
| State fee, certified commercial applicator | $75 | Paid by the person, not added to your bill as a line. Michigan statute and MDARD agree. |
| State fee, pesticide application business license | $100 a year, expires every December 31 | Every company that applies pesticides for hire needs one, in addition to its applicators' credentials. |
How we estimate costs: the Estimated range row is a model, not a quote. It takes one published national range for this job (a cost guide from a third-party site that we have not verified and do not cite) and multiplies it by Michigan's pest control worker median wage ratio to the US (0.98, BLS May 2025 data read through O*NET OnLine). The wage and state fee rows in the table are what pest control workers are paid and what the state charges to license them, and neither is a price. We have not collected quotes, and we found no Michigan pest control company that publishes a regular price. Full method.
Questions about rodents
How do I keep rodents away in Michigan?
Remove food, water and shelter, and seal the holes, using steel wool or a patch, according to the EPA. DNR suggests metal flashing or hardware cloth and a capped, screened chimney for small wild rodents, with the caveat that its page covers wild species.
What qualifies as a rodent infestation?
The EPA does not set a count; it lists signs: droppings near food, nesting material, and chewed holes in walls and floors. If you see those, act on the entry points and ask a company to inspect.
Is it worth getting an exterminator for mice?
It is when you cannot find or reach the entry points, or when you want bait handled by a licensed applicator. Sealing is the part that lasts, so ask the company what it will do about the holes.