Is Green Lake, Wisconsin a Lake or a City?
Both. Green Lake is the lake — 7,920 acres, 236 feet deep, in Green Lake County, Wisconsin, and Green Lake is also the name of the community on it. The USGS gauge is titled "Green Lake at Green Lake, WI" (site 434840089000001), which is the agency writing the water and the place in a single line.
Green Lake, the water
| Official name | Green Lake |
| Location | Green Lake County, Wisconsin |
| Surface area | 7,920 acres |
| Maximum depth | 236 ft |
| Water-quality grade | B — Good |
| Water clarity (Secchi) | 14.1 ft |
| Total phosphorus | 32 µg/L |
| County rank | 4 of 13 graded lakes in Green Lake County |
| Last sampled | 2023-09-07 |
Green Lake, the place
Green Lake is a community, not a body of water — which is the whole source of the mix-up. The clearest evidence is how the federal government writes it: the US Geological Survey gauge on this lake is named “Green Lake at Green Lake, WI” (site number 434840089000001), naming the water first and the town second. That gauge last reported a water level of 6.68 ft on 2026-07-06T00:00:00.000-05:00.
We grade lakes, not towns, so there is no Green Lake town page here — everything on this site about the name refers to the water.
Other lakes actually named Green Lake
These are different bodies of water that happen to share the name. Each has its own report card.
| Lake | County, State | Acres | Max depth | Grade | Clarity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green Lake (this page) | Green Lake, WI | 7,920 | 236 ft | B | 14.1 ft |
| Green Lake | Kandiyohi, MN | 5,569 | 110 ft | A | 14.1 ft |
| Green Lake | Chisago, MN | 1,809 | 32 ft | C | 6 ft |
| Green Lake | McIntosh, ND | 906 | 11 ft | D | 4.9 ft |
| Green Lake | Isanti, MN | 833 | 28 ft | C | 4.7 ft |
| Green Lake | Walworth, WI | 311 | 57 ft | A | 11 ft |
| Green Lake | St. Louis, MN | 160 | 20 ft | C | 9 ft |
| Green Lake | Washington, WI | 70 | 37 ft | B | 9 ft |
| Green Lake | Sawyer, WI | 50 | 9 ft | C | 4.7 ft |
How to tell which one someone means
In practice: context decides. Directions, lodging and addresses mean the community; depth, clarity, boat launches and fishing mean the water. Where it genuinely matters is the other lakes of the same name in Kandiyohi County, Minnesota and Chisago County, Minnesota and McIntosh County, North Dakota and Isanti County, Minnesota and Walworth County, Wisconsin and St. Louis County, Minnesota and Washington County, Wisconsin and Sawyer County, Wisconsin — different lakes with different grades, so a county name is the thing to check.