Largest Lakes by Surface Area

The 50 largest inland lakes ranked by surface area in acres, across our 12-state dataset. (The Great Lakes are excluded.) Big lakes offer diverse recreation but can vary widely in water quality from one bay to the next.

The largest lake on the index is Rainy Lake in Koochiching County, MN, at 210,200 acres. The top 50 span 7 states, with Minnesota (23), North Dakota (9), Wisconsin (9) most represented.

Surface area comes from state DNR lake surveys and USACE National Inventory of Dams records for reservoirs; water-quality grades come from EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys and state monitoring programs.

State-specific lists: Largest lakes in Minnesota →Largest lakes in Wisconsin →Largest lakes in Illinois →Largest lakes in Michigan →Largest lakes in Iowa →Largest lakes in Ohio →Largest lakes in Pennsylvania →Largest lakes in New York →Largest lakes in Missouri →Largest lakes in Indiana →Largest lakes in North Dakota →Largest lakes in South Dakota →

Top 3 Largest Lakes

#1D

Rainy Lake

Koochiching County, MN

Surface area 210,200 acres, Grade D. Max depth 161 ft.

#2D

Rainy Lake

St. Louis County, MN

Surface area 210,200 acres, Grade D. Max depth 161 ft.

#3C

Devils Lake

Ramsey County, ND

Surface area 140,000 acres, Grade C. Max depth 58.1 ft.

Rank	Lake	County	State	Area	Depth	Grade
1	Rainy Lake	Koochiching	MN	210,200 acres	161 ft	D
2	Rainy Lake	St. Louis	MN	210,200 acres	161 ft	D
3	Devils Lake	Ramsey	ND	140,000 acres	58.1 ft	C
4	Qacmainstdup Lake	Mercer	ND	133,000 acres	-	B
5	Mille Lacs Lake	Aitkin	MN	128,250 acres	42 ft	B
6	Mille Lacs Lake	Mille Lacs	MN	128,250 acres	42 ft	C
7	Upper Red Lake: West-Central	Beltrami	MN	119,294 acres	15 ft	D
8	Devils Lake	Benson	ND	110,763 acres	58.1 ft	C
9	Steamboat Bay Lake	Cass	MN	103,444 acres	150 ft	B
10	Lake Winnibigoshish	Cass	MN	56,471 acres	69.8 ft	B
11	Third River Flowage Lake	Itasca	MN	56,471 acres	69.8 ft	B
12	H.S. Truman Res. Nr. Dam Lake	Benton	MO	55,600 acres	-	C
13	Loto Upstream of Dam Lake	Miller	MO	55,342 acres	-	B
14	Table Rock Lake	Taney	MO	43,100 acres	-	B
15	Table Rock Lk. Into Main Channel From Dam Lake	Stone	MO	43,100 acres	-	B
16	East Vermilion Lake	St. Louis	MN	39,272 acres	76 ft	D
17	Lac la Croix Lake	St. Louis	MN	29,597 acres	168 ft	C
18	Basswood Lake	Lake	MN	25,953 acres	111 ft	C
19	Stockton Lake	Cedar	MO	24,900 acres	-	B
20	Carlyle Lake	Clinton	IL	24,580 acres	-	F
21	Pepin Lake	Pepin	WI	24,550 acres	60 ft	F
22	Namakan Lake	St. Louis	MN	24,066 acres	150 ft	C
23	Kabetogama Lake	St. Louis	MN	24,034 acres	80 ft	D
24	Lake Wappapello Nr. Dam	Wayne	MO	23,200 acres	-	D
25	Petenwell Flowage Lake	Juneau	WI	23,173 acres	44 ft	D
26	Lake Audubon	McLean	ND	19,095 acres	59.4 ft	B
27	Western Stump Lake	Nelson	ND	17,681 acres	77.1 ft	F
28	Jamestown Reservoir	Stutsman	ND	17,427 acres	36.2 ft	D
29	Drewery Lake	Beltrami	MN	15,958 acres	120 ft	B
30	Chippewa Flowage Lake	Sawyer	WI	14,593 acres	92 ft	B
31	Minnetonka Lake	Hennepin	MN	14,206 acres	113 ft	B
32	Otter Tail Lake	Otter Tail	MN	14,079 acres	120 ft	A
33	Lake Poygan	Winnebago	WI	14,024 acres	11 ft	F
34	Turtle Flambeau Flowage Lake	Iron	WI	13,798 acres	-	B
35	Turtle-Flambeau Flowage Lake	Iron	WI	12,942 acres	50 ft	D
36	Pepin Lake	Pepin	MN	12,299 acres	60 ft	F
37	Pelican Lake	St. Louis	MN	11,546 acres	38 ft	C
38	Rathbun Lake	Appanoose	IA	11,013 acres	-	D
39	Lake Tschida	Grant	ND	10,953 acres	-	C
40	Lake Koshkonong	Jefferson	WI	10,595 acres	7 ft	F
41	Crooked Lake	Lake	MN	10,360 acres	165 ft	C
42	Upper Estuary Lake	St. Louis	MN	10,255 acres	55 ft	D
43	Gull Lake	Cass	MN	10,010 acres	80 ft	A
44	Lake Mendota	Dane	WI	9,781 acres	83 ft	C
45	Lake Darling	Ward	ND	9,655 acres	28.7 ft	D
46	Lake Darling	Renville	ND	9,655 acres	28.7 ft	B
47	Bowstring Lake	Itasca	MN	9,528 acres	32 ft	C
48	Hubbard Lake	Alcona	MI	8,800 acres	-	A
49	Lake Butte des Morts	Winnebago	WI	8,581 acres	9 ft	F
50	Sand Point Lake	St. Louis	MN	8,527 acres	184 ft	C

Frequently Asked Questions

Rainy Lake in Koochiching County, MN, is the largest on our index at 210,200 acres. (We rank inland lakes — the Great Lakes are excluded.)

Surface area comes from state DNR lake surveys and, for reservoirs, US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) National Inventory of Dams records. Area is reported in acres at normal pool elevation. Reservoirs rise and fall with management, so their listed area is the long-term normal rather than a single-day reading.

It varies more within a big lake than between lakes. A large lake can have a clean, deep main basin and a murky, algae-prone bay fed by a tributary, so a single grade can hide wide swings. Surface area alone does not predict quality — depth, watershed land use, and flushing rate matter far more.

This ranking covers inland lakes and reservoirs. The Great Lakes dwarf every inland lake by orders of magnitude, so including them would crowd out the lakes anglers and swimmers actually visit. We rank the largest inland waters across our 12-state coverage instead.

Cleanest Lakes →Clearest Water →Deepest Lakes →Worst Water Quality →Best Fishing →

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