Great Lakes Statistics

Last updated: November 21, 2025

GREAT LAKES, OVERALL

• Total length of Great Lakes shoreline, including islands: 10,210 miles (source)

• World’s supply of surface freshwater in the Great Lakes: approximately 20 percent (source)

• They hold about one-fifth of the world’s fresh surface water supply (about 21%) and about nine-tenths of the US supply (about 84%)  (source)

• Combined surface area of all the Great Lakes: over 94,000 square miles (244,000 square kilometers) (source)

• The surface area of the Great Lakes is larger than: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont combined (source)

• Gallons of fresh water: 6 quadrillion (22.7 quadrillion liters), enough to submerge the entire continental United States in nearly 10 feet of water (source)

• More than 30 million people in the United States and Canada live in the Great Lakes basin — roughly 10% of the U.S. population and over 30% of Canada’s population (source)

• The Lakes directly generate more than 1.5 million jobs and $60 billion in wages annually (source)

• Combining the U.S. and Canada, the Great Lakes recreational fishing industry is worth $5.1 billion (source)

• The Lakes provide the backbone for a $6 trillion regional economy that would be one of the largest in the world if it stood alone as a country. Recreation on the Great Lakes – including world-renown boating, hunting and fishing opportunities – generate more than $52 billion annually for the region. (source)

• More than 3,500 species of plants and animals live in the Great Lakes ecoregion, including over 130 species of native fish. (source)

• A geologically “young” system compared to the world’s oceans, the Great Lakes were shaped by glaciers about 10,000 years ago. (source)

• The Great Lakes basin is a 295,200-square-mile area within which all surface area drains into the Great Lakes. It includes parts of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ontario, and Quebec (source)

GREAT LAKES RESTORATION INITITAIVE

• The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has made tremendous environmental progress and resulted in economic returns of more than 3-to-1 for every dollar invested across the Great Lakes. (source)

• Over 8,100 restoration projects completed or underway (source)

• 2.15 million farmland acres have received assistance for nutrient management actions (source)

• Over 8,170 miles of connectivity have been cleared of dams and barriers (source)

• 7 Areas of Concern have been delisted & 9 have completed the management actions necessary for delisting (source)

• 118 beneficial use impairments have been addressed (Beneficial Use Impairments are changes in the chemical, physical or biological integrity of the Great Lakes system sufficient to cause significant environmental degradation) (source)

• Nearly 530,000 acres of habitat, including 72,000 acres of coastal wetlands have been enhanced, protected, and restored (source)

LAKE SUPERIOR

• About 200 rivers feed into Lake Superior (source)

• The average drop of water will travel around the lake for 191 years before exiting through the Soo Locks on the St. Marys River (source)

• Largest Great Lakes by volume, deepest and coldest of the Great Lakes (source)

• Length: 350 mi (563 km) (source)

• Breadth: 160 mi (257 km) (source)

• Elevation: 600 ft (183 m) (source)

• Depth: approximately 483 ft (147 m) average; 1,330 ft (405 m) maximum (source)

• Volume: approximately 2,900 cubic mi (12,088 cubic km) (source)

• Water surface area: 31,700 square mi (82,103 square km) (source)

• ‍Drainage basin area: 49,300 square mi (127,686 square km) (source)

• Shoreline length: 2,726 mi (4,387 km), including islands (source)

• Outlet: St. Marys River to Lake Huron (source)

• Retention or replacement time: 191 years (source)

• Drainage basin covers parts of Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ontario (source)

• Areas of Concern (source):

  • Deer Lake (Michigan, delisted)

  • St. Louis River (Minnesota, Wisconsin)

  • Torch Lake (Michigan)

  • St Marys River (Michigan and Canada)

  • Thunder Bay (Canada)

  • Nipigon Bay (Canada)

  • Jackfish Bay (Canada)

  • Peninsula Harbor (Canada)

LAKE MICHIGAN

• Length: 307 mi (494 km) (source)

• Breadth: 118 mi (190 km) (source)

• Elevation: approximately 577.5 ft (176 m) (source)

• Depth: 279 ft (85 m) average; approximately 923 ft (281 m) maximum (source)

• Volume: 1,180 cubic mi (4,918 cubic km) (source)

• Water surface area: approximately 22,300 square mi (57,757 square km) (source)

• Drainage basin area: 45,600 square mi (118,103 square km) (source)

• Shoreline length: approximately 1,640 mi (2,639 km), including islands (source)

• Outlet: Straits of Mackinac to Lake Huron (source)

• Retention or replacement time: 62 years (source)

• Population: 12+ million* (source)
  * Includes metropolitan Chicago, which is not part of the drainage basin, but uses Lake Michigan for drinking water.

• Drainage basin covers portions of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin (source)

• Areas of Concern (source):

  • Lower Green Bay/Fox River (Wisconsin)

  • Grand Calumet River (Indiana)

  • Kalamazoo River (Michigan), Manistique River (Michigan)

  • Lower Menominee River (Michigan, delisted)

  • Milwaukee Estuary (Wisconsin)

  • Muskegon Lake (Michigan, delisted)

  • Sheboygan River (Michigan)

  • Waukegan Harbor (Wisconsin)

  • White Lake (Michigan, delisted)

LAKE HURON

• Length: approximately 206 mi (332 km) (source)

• Breadth: 183 mi (295 km) (source)

• Elevation: approximately 577.5 ft (176 m) (source)

• Depth: approximately 195 ft (59 m) average; 750 ft (229 m) maximum (source)

• Volume: approximately 849 cubic mi (3,539 cubic km) (source)

• Water surface area: approximately 23,000 square mi (59,570 square km) (source)

• Drainage basin area: 50,700 square mi (131,312 square km) (source)

• Shoreline length: approximately 3,830 mi (6,164 km), including islands (source)

• Outlet: St. Clair River to Lake Erie (source)

• Retention or replacement time: approximately 21 years (source)

• U.S. population: 1.5 million (source)

• Canada population: 1.5 million (source)

• Over 30,000 islands (source)

• Drain area covers parts of Michigan and Ontario (source)

• Areas of Concern (source):

  • Saginaw River Bay (Michigan)

  • St. Clair River (Michigan)

  • St. Marys River (Michigan)

  • Spanish Harbour (Canada)

  • Severn Sound (Canada, delisted)

  • Collingwood Harbour (Canada, delisted)

LAKE ERIE

• Shallowest and warmest of the Great Lakes (source)

• Smallest Great Lake by volume (source)

• Length: approximately 240 mi (386 km) (source)

• Breadth: 57 mi (92 km) (source)

• Elevation: 569.2 ft (173.5 m) (source)

• Depth: 62 ft (21 m) average; 210 ft (64 m) maximum (source)

• Volume: approximately 116 cubic mi (484 cubic km) (source)

• Water surface area: approximately 9,910 square mi (25,667 square km) (source)

• Drainage basin area: 22,700 square mi (58,793 square km) (source)

• Shoreline length: approximately 871 mi (1,402 km), including islands (source)

• Outlets: Niagara River and Welland Canal (source)

• Retention or replacement time: 2.6 years (shortest of the Great Lakes) (source)

• U.S. population: 10.5 million (source)

• Canada population: 1.9 million (source)

• Drainage basin covers parts of Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario (source)

• Provides drinking water for 12 million people in the U.S. and Canada (source)

• $12.9 billion tourism industry and world class fishery (source)

• Areas of Concern (source):

  • Ashtabula River (Ohio, delisted)

  • Black River (Ohio)

  • Buffalo River (New York)

  • Clinton River (Michigan)

  • Cuyahoga River (Ohio)

  • Detroit River (Michigan)

  • Maumee River (Ohio)

• Presque Isle Bay (Pennsylvania, delisted)

  • River Raisin (Michigan)

  • Rouge River (Michigan)

  • St. Clair River (Michigan)

  • Wheatley Harbour (Canada)

LAKE ONTARIO

• Length: 193 mi (311 km) (source)

• Breadth: 53 mi (85 km) (source)

• Elevation: approximately 243.3 ft (74.2 m) (source)

• Depth: approximately 283 ft (86 m average); 802 ft (244 m) maximum (source)

• Volume: approximately 393 cubic mi (1,638 cubic km) (source)

• Water surface area: 7,340 square mi (19,011 square km) (source)

• Drainage basin area: 23,400 square mi (60,606 square km) (source)

• Shoreline length: 712 mi (1,146 km), including islands (source)

• Outlet: St. Lawrence River to the Atlantic Ocean (source)

• Retention or replacement time: 6 years (source)

• U.S. population: 2.8 million (source)

• Canada population: 5.7 million (source) ‍

• Drainage basin covers parts of Ontario, New York, and a small portion of Pennsylvania (source)

• Areas of Concern (source):

  • Eighteenmile Creek (New York)

  • Niagara River (New York)

  • Oswego River (New York, delisted)

  • Rochester Embayment (New York, delisted)

  • St. Lawrence River (New York and Canada)

  • Hamilton Harbour (Canada)

  • Toronto and Region (Canada)

  • Port Hope Harbour (Canada)

  • Bay of Quinte (Canada)