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 | — — Measured |
| Water clarity (Secchi) | 13.5 ft |
| Total phosphorus | 38.1 µg/L |
| County rank | 1 of 7 graded lakes in Green Lake County |
| Last sampled | 2026-06-10 |
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.
This site covers lakes rather than towns, so everything here about the name Green Lake refers to the water itself.
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 | — | 13.5 ft |
| Green Lake | Calhoun, TX | 6,050 | — | — | — |
| Green Lake | Kandiyohi, MN | 5,569 | 110 ft | — | 14.1 ft |
| Green Lake | Grand Traverse, MI | 1,996 | 102 ft | — | 12.8 ft |
| Green Lake | Chisago, MN | 1,809 | 32 ft | — | 6 ft |
| Green Lake | Potter, SD | 1,153 | — | — | — |
| Green Lake | McIntosh, ND | 906 | — | — | — |
| Green Lake | Isanti, MN | 833 | 28 ft | — | 4.7 ft |
| Green Lake | Walworth, WI | 311 | 57 ft | — | 11 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 Calhoun County, Texas and Kandiyohi County, Minnesota and Grand Traverse County, Michigan and Chisago County, Minnesota and Potter County, South Dakota and McIntosh County, North Dakota and Isanti County, Minnesota and Walworth County, Wisconsin — different lakes with different grades, so a county name is the thing to check.
Watch Green Lake water quality
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