If you hear scratching in the walls at night, find holes chewed in the drywall, or spot droppings about the size of a grain of rice, you may have a mouse infestation in your home. While you may be able to take care of a small infestation by yourself, mice reproduce quickly, so you could soon have a large problem that will require hiring a mouse exterminator.
In this article, we’ll present the costs for both DIY and professional solutions and provide some tips for hiring the right pest control company for you and your home.
Average Mice Extermination Cost
A full-service professional visit, which usually includes an inspection, treatment, and exclusion—that is, preventing mice from returning—usually ranges from $200–$600. However, an especially large or troublesome rodent infestation might cost more than $1,000.
If you’d like to include rodent control in a larger package of monthly or semi-monthly pest control services, the initial visit often costs between $150 and $300. The technician will typically perform an inspection, create a treatment plan, and start implementing the plan. After this visit, you’ll pay between $40 and $70 for follow-up visits.
Factors That Affect Mice Extermination Pricing
The overall cost of mice extermination will vary depending on the size of the problem. In addition to the size of an infestation, the following factors will affect the total exterminator cost.
- Location of the infestation—If the mice have nested in your yard, shed, or other occupied room of the house, the cost to remove them will be lower. However, nests in hard-to-reach places like ceilings, attics, basements, and foundations will typically be pricier to remove.
- Use of live traps—If you prefer a more humane solution to get rid of mice and want to trap and relocate them, this will usually cost a bit more than traditional traps. With a more humane option, you’re paying for the mice to be transported, and this can mean driving outside the city limits in a larger city.
- Fumigation—Fortunately, mouse infestations that require this drastic solution are rare. However, if tenting and fumigation are necessary, they’ll cost between $2,000 and $6,000.
DIY Mouse Removal vs. Using an Exterminator
If you don’t have a huge mouse infestation and notice only one or two mice scurrying around your home, you can purchase traps or poison to attempt to get rid of the mice yourself.
Here are some of the most common mice extermination methods, how much they cost, and their benefits and drawbacks.
| Type of Trap | How They Work | Price per Unit | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snap traps | With this type of trap, a metal bar breaks a mouse’s neck | $1–$2 | The least expensive solution | Less humane than other traps, difficult to set, can hurt people and pets |
| Jaw traps | Plastic jaws in this trap suffocate the mouse | $4–$8 | Inexpensive and safer and easier to use than snap traps | Less humane than other traps |
| Glue traps | Keep a mouse in place until it starves or becomes dehydrated | $3–$12 | One of the easiest traps to use, highly effective, and disposable | Least humane, not reusable |
| Live traps | Capture live mice for a later release | $10–$25 | Humane | Users must release mice at least one mile from their homes for the trap to be effective |
| Bait stations | Poison mice | $12–$20 | Easy to use | Can take days to work, mice may die in your walls, often unsafe to use around pets |
| Electronic traps | Electrocute mice | $30–$60 | More humane than other traps, safe to use around children and pets | Expensive, require batteries |
Using an Exterminator
If DIY solutions aren’t getting rid of the few mice in your home or you’re dealing with a larger infestation, consider hiring a professional pest control company. Most pest control companies offer services to remove rodents, including mice, and have the tools and training to get rid of large infestations as safely and efficiently as possible.
While hiring a professional pest control company might be more expensive than getting rid of mice on your own, you can rest assured that the technicians will completely eliminate your mouse issue in a timely manner. Consider scheduling an inspection with a pest control company, such as Terminix or Orkin, where a technician will come to your home to assess the issue and provide you with a pricing estimate for treatment.
Questions To Ask a Mice Exterminator
Here are some questions to ask when choosing a rodent control service:
- Is your company licensed and insured?
- How much experience do your technicians have with removing mice?
- Will you provide a written estimate? Do you honor your estimates?
- Can you identify the location of the mouse infestation?
- Are the products or traps that you use safe for pets and/or children?
- Do you offer a service guarantee? If so, how long does it last?
Our Conclusion
Setting your own mouse traps can have mixed results, and it’s often a prolonged and unpleasant process even when successful. Professional exterminators are ideal for homeowners with the appropriate budget as they have the training and tools to eliminate rodent problems fast. We recommend Terminix for its reliable pest control and around-the-clock customer support. Orkin is another excellent choice, with many locations offering same-day service.
Before scheduling a mice extermination service, we recommend requesting quotes from at least three pest control specialists. This will give you a better idea of what costs to expect and will familiarize you with each company’s customer service and pest control plans.
Frequently Asked Questions About Mice Extermination
Our Rating Methodology
The This Old House Reviews Team backs up our pest control recommendations with a detailed rating methodology that we use to objectively score each provider. We review pest control plans, navigate the provider website, speak with customer service representatives by phone and online chat (if available), request quotes, and analyze customer reviews for each provider. We then score the provider against our review standards for plan options, additional benefits and convenience factors, availability, trustworthiness, and customer service to arrive at a final score out of 100.
To share feedback or ask a question about this article, send a note to our Reviews Team at reviews@thisoldhousereviews.com.