Mice extermination can cost between $176 and $614, depending on the size of the infestation and your home, local labor rates, and the method used to eliminate the problem. Mice extermination is a job you can handle yourself if you have a small infestation contained in one area of your home. However, you run the risk of the problem returning if you don’t know how to properly safeguard your home against mice.
A professional pest control company can remove your mice problem safely and effectively and prevent them from returning. Our team examined the costs of pest control, specifically mice extermination, and detailed them below.
Key Takeaways
- Mice extermination costs an average of $394, with some infestations exceeding $1,200 to remove. Although this is an expensive pest control service, the damage of an untreated mouse infestation will far exceed that range.
- You can use DIY methods to remove one or two mice, but full infestations require the help of a professional.
Cost data in this article was sourced from HomeAdvisor unless otherwise specified. One-time treatment costs were sourced from online quotes we requested from Terminix. This cost is for general pest treatment and does not include rodent exclusion fees.
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Mice Exterminator Cost
Our research shows that hiring a mouse exterminator costs an average of $394, with some professional exterminators charging between $90 and $150 per visit. Promptly dealing with a mouse infestation is crucial to maintaining a safe and healthy home. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), rodents carry harmful bacterial and viral diseases, such as salmonellosis and Lassa fever.
In addition to posing a health risk to you and your loved ones, mice can damage your home by tunneling through your walls, chewing electrical wires, and gnawing your furniture. To ensure you reduce the likelihood of structural or electrical damage to your home, we recommend removing your mice infestation sooner rather than later.
What Factors Affect Mice Extermination Pricing?
Several factors affect the cost of mice extermination for your home. Every situation is different, so we suggest requesting a consultation with a trained professional to learn your options. Here are the main factors that influence mice exterminator costs:
- Infestation severity: The more mice in your home, the more work it takes to get rid of them. A small infestation in one room will cost less to handle than a large infestation spread across multiple areas of your house. However, severe infestations, such as removing colonies of mice from your walls, may require multiple visits and additional treatments, increasing the overall cost.
- Home size: Treatment of larger homes requires more time, labor, and materials. If mice have spread throughout your entire home, the exterminator will need to inspect and treat more areas, which increases the cost compared to treating a single room.
- Treatment type: Different exterminators use different methods to deal with mice, including traps and baits. The cost will depend on the type of treatment and how extensive it needs to be. Eco-friendly or humane options, for example, may be pricier than standard traps or chemicals. Additionally, many exterminators offer exclusion services—or blocking off entry points—to prevent mice from coming back, such as sealing cracks and holes around your home. While this adds to the upfront cost, it can save you money and stress in the long run by preventing future infestations.
- Home location: Where you live can impact pricing. If you live in a rural area, the exterminator may charge more due to travel expenses. In urban areas, prices might also be higher due to increased demand or cost of living.
- Emergency or after-hours service: If you need an exterminator to handle the issue urgently, such as over a weekend or late at night, expect to pay more for the convenience of immediate service.
Signs You Need an Exterminator for Mice
A small infestation of less than five mice is typically something most homeowners can handle using traps and pest control products bought at a retail store. However, mice infestations with more than five rodents are much more difficult to eliminate without professional help.
Consider calling a pest control professional if you see any of the following signs around your home:
- Bad odors
- Damaged cardboard boxes, insulation, or paper products
- Damaged food or food containers
- Dark streaks along floorboards and walls (called rodent runways)
- Gnaw marks on floorboards, wooden furniture, or wires
- Small, foul-smelling mounds along rodent runways
- Tiny, pellet-like droppings
- Unusual scratching, thumping, or rustling sounds within walls
DIY vs. Professional Mice Extermination
The choice between removing your mice problem yourself and hiring an exterminator depends on the size of your infestation. If you feel comfortable using common pest control products, such as poison baits and snap traps, we suggest going the DIY route. However, if your extermination efforts aren’t effective, consider hiring a pest control professional.
DIY Mice Extermination
The DIY route has several options to choose from, such as using traps, poison, or natural repellents. Below is a breakdown of popular DIY mouse removal methods:
- Snap traps: This trap type uses a small metal bar and a trigger that closes on a mouse when the mouse moves the trigger. It is a more humane option for eliminating mice because it kills them quickly.
- Glue traps: Glue traps consist of a board covered in strong adhesive that immobilizes mice when they step on it. While effective, glue traps are inhumane because they kill the trapped rodent slowly via dehydration.
- Live traps: Also called “no-kill” traps, these traps capture mice alive with a one-way door. Once caught, you can transport and release the mice away from your home. These traps are reusable and humane so long as you check the traps frequently to ensure the mice don’t dehydrate.
- Bait stations: These traps use poison to kill multiple mice in a short period of time. The mice consume the bait, go back to their nest, and die. These traps require the homeowner to find and dispose of the rodents after they die. They’re inhumane as the poison is not fast-acting. In addition, bait stations can seriously harm pets and small children who accidentally consume the bait, so you’ll need to be extra careful when using this product.
- Electronic traps: These traps use electric shocks to kill the mice. Like snap traps, electronic traps are more humane than other mice removal products because of how quickly they can kill a mouse.
- Peppermint oil: The strong scent of peppermint oil can be a humane and eco-friendly way to repel mice from your home because rodents tend to find the smell unpleasant. However, peppermint oil may not be as effective in the long term due to rodents becoming accustomed to the smell.
The table below shows pricing information for each type of mouse trap, which we sourced from retail sites Lowes and Home Depot.
| Type of Trap | Price |
|---|---|
| Snap traps (pack of two traps) | $5.61 |
| Glue traps (pack of four traps) | $4.98 |
| Live traps (single trap) | $6.38 |
| Bait stations (single bait station) | $8.98 |
| Electronic traps (single trap) | $24.97 |
Using a Professional Exterminator for Mice
While DIY mouse removal can be effective for small, localized infestations, larger ones can be difficult to successfully complete without professional assistance. Professional exterminators have the knowledge, tools, and products to eliminate your mouse problem efficiently. However, this expertise comes at a higher price than over-the-counter products you can buy at retail stores.
- Expect to spend a minimum of $90 for exterminator services. Actual prices may vary depending on where you live and the extent of your problem.
Do Mice Come Back After Extermination?
Mice can come back after extermination, whether you do the extermination yourself or you hire a professional. The most common cause is a nearby untreated infestation or proximity to a mouse-prone location. For example, if you live in an apartment and the building next to you has an infestation, mice can continuously migrate from one location to another. Homes next to open fields, forests, or other mice-prone locations must exercise consistent pest prevention to keep them out.
Other major reasons mice can return to a home are the presence of attractants and lack of prevention. Mice will continuously return if you don’t properly reduce food waste, trash, standing debris, overgrown grass, or other attractants.
However, our research found that mice are less likely to return with an exterminator than with DIY methods. For instance, professionals have access to higher-potency baits and pesticides that can eliminate mice faster and more effectively. In addition, a professional will know which prevention techniques to implement that limit the chances of mice reentering your home.
Questions To Ask an Exterminator Before Hiring Them
When done correctly, pest extermination done by a trained technician can protect your home and give you peace of mind. However, some pesticides and removal methods can pose risks to your health and home. To minimize these risks, we suggest hiring a reputable professional who knows how to properly apply the pesticides. Below are some questions to ask when vetting a mouse extermination service provider.
How Much Experience Do Your Technicians Have With Removing Mice?
A technician’s training and experience with specific pests indicate their ability to handle the job effectively. Always ask about the company’s experience with mice extermination before committing to their service.
Will You Provide a Written Estimate? Do You Honor Your Estimates?
A written estimate outlines the expected charges for your service. Review the estimate carefully and ask about any unclear terms or potential changes to ensure there are no surprises on service day.
Can You Identify the Location of the Mouse Infestation?
Reputable providers have vast experience in finding common—and uncommon—locations where mice nest around a home. A thorough rodent control service includes locating the infestation and implementing proper sealing strategies to prevent mice from entering your home again. Ensure the provider includes this in their plan.
Are the Products or Traps That You Use Safe for Pets and/or Children?
Reputable pest control providers prioritize the safety of their customers. Ask about the potential risks of their methods and the precautions they’ll take to protect you, your family, and your pets.
Do You Offer a Service Guarantee? If So, How Long Does It Last?
Many reputable companies offer satisfaction guarantees, such as refunds for unsatisfactory work or free follow-up treatments for infestations they couldn’t eliminate. Confirm that they offer a service guarantee and what it covers.
Is Your Company Licensed and Insured?
Pest control professionals must meet strict certification requirements set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and often additional state regulations. Verify that the company is properly licensed and insured. Avoid exterminators who can’t show you the proper licensing.
Is Mice Extermination Worth the Cost?
Our research shows that hiring a professional mouse exterminator is worth the cost for multiple reasons. Mice can cause significant damage to your home by chewing through wires, insulation, and even wood, leading to costly repairs. They also pose serious health risks, as their droppings and urine can spread diseases.
Professional exterminators have the tools, expertise, and knowledge to eliminate the mice infestation and prevent future issues. While DIY methods might seem affordable, they often only address part of the problem, leaving you at risk for a reinfestation that can cost more in the long run.
However, if your infestation is small and localized and you feel confident identifying and sealing entry points, you can handle mice extermination with store-bought traps and repellents. While this approach can save you money, it requires time, effort, and vigilance.
Weighing the severity of your problem and your comfort level with DIY solutions can help you decide if professional services are the best option. If you wish to hire professional help, we recommend companies such as Terminix and Orkin due to their impressive industry experience, thorough training, and comprehensive pest control plans.
FAQs About Mice Extermination Cost
How do I know if I have a mouse infestation in my home?
There are several signs you have a mouse infestation in your home. You will likely find trails of small droppings throughout your home, especially in areas with potential food sources, such as your kitchen. These droppings are dark brown and typically measure around one-quarter inch. Mice also scratch at walls, and you may hear them scurrying at night.
Can a mouse infestation make you sick?
A mouse infestation can potentially harbor contagious diseases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Mice transmit these diseases through their saliva, urine, and feces.
What is integrated pest management?
An integrated pest management (IPM) plan combines several strategies for residential and commercial pest control. IPM may include the use of pesticides, but it will also incorporate environmental strategies based on the pest’s behavior, habitat, and life cycle. For example, pheromones may be employed to discourage reproduction.
How long does it take to get rid of mice?
The time it takes to get rid of mice depends on the severity of the infestation and the methods used. For smaller infestations, it can take a few days to a week to see results using traps or baits. Larger infestations or situations where mice are hiding in hard-to-reach areas might take several weeks and require multiple visits from a professional exterminator. To speed up the process, it’s important to seal all entry points, remove food sources, and follow the exterminator’s recommendations closely.
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 plans and services, reputation and customer responses, customer service offerings, workmanship guarantees, financing, and availability to arrive at a final score on a 5-point rating scale.
