The aim of this study was to determine the coverage of municipal activities in terms of the control of Aedes aegypti and/or Aedes albopictus by routine house-to-house visits and by emergency activity, carried out between 1989 and 1995 in the area of São José do Rio Prêto, São Paulo State, and to evaluate the cross-correlation between them and the Breteau index (BI). For towns with up to 50,000 real estate properties, the joint coverage by routine and emergency activities was mostly appropriate and the routine activities showed a negative cross-correlation with the BI. For the county seat (more than 50,000 real estate properties), the coverage provided by the above activities was not correlated with the BI. In general, the coverage was inversely proportional to town size. Emergency activities did not show a correlation with the BI in any town size range, proving to be ineffective.