Which States Have the Highest Percentage of Water Area?

Water is a defining feature of many U.S. states, shaping their geography and ecosystems. Some states have vast water resources that cover significant portions of their land area, while others have relatively little.  Past reports about multi-year droughts in California and the western part of the United States has highlighted just how precious water is as a resource.  

The USGS has consolidated a table with the area of each state that covered by perennial water from data provided by the  U.S. Census Bureau’s table: Geography: State Area Measurements, 2010.  Perennial water refers to bodies of water that exist continuously throughout the year. This includes rivers, lakes, and streams that have a consistent flow or presence of water.

The statistics from both tables calculates the amount of area for each state and the District of Columbia that is covered by perennial water.  These calculations don’t include water from intermittent, glacier, and and marsh/swamp sources.

Which states have the highest percentage by area of perennial water and which states have the lowest amount of perennial water?

What Percentage of the United States is Covered in Water?

Overall, the United States has 264,837 square miles of water, accounting for 7% of the total 3,796,742 square miles that is the area of the country.  

State with the Largest Total Area of Water

Alaska has the most water

The state with the largest total area of water is Alaska, which has 94,743 square miles of water.  Alaska contains approximately 12,000 rivers, 3 million lakes larger than 5 acres, and numerous creeks and ponds, accounting for more than 14% of the state’s total area.

Alaska is home to many major rivers, including the Yukon River, one of the longest rivers in North America. The Kuskokwim, Tanana, and Copper Rivers are also significant, providing vital transportation routes and supporting local communities.

Alaska also has numerous lakes, with Lake Iliamna being the largest freshwater lake in Alaska. Other notable lakes include Becharof Lake and Teshekpuk Lake. Alaska is renowned for its glaciers, with more than 100,000 of them covering approximately 5% of the state’s land area. Meltwater from these glaciers account for a significant amount of runoff into Alaska’s rivers and lakes.

Michigan has the second most water of all the US states in terms of area

The state with the second largest total water area is Michigan, a distant second compared to Alaska with 40,175 square miles of water.

Michigan, often called the “Great Lakes State” as it’s bordered by four of the five Great Lakes: Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, and Lake Erie. In addition to the Great Lakes, Michigan has over 11,000 inland lakes. Some of the largest include Houghton Lake, Torch Lake, and Higgins Lake.

Table: Top ten states with the most water by area

The top ten states for water by area are:

Rank	State	Area of water (square miles)
1	Alaska	94,743
2	Michigan	40,175
3	Florida	12,133
4	Wisconsin	11,339
5	Louisiana	9,174
6	California	7,916
7	New York	7,429
8	Texas	7,365
9	Minnesota	7,309
10	North Carolina	5,201

Minnesota water

Minnesota is famous for its lakes, with more than 11,000 lakes that are larger than ten acres. Some of the most well-known include Lake Superior, which is the largest freshwater lake by surface area in the world, and Mille Lacs Lake, a popular destination for fishing and recreation.

 

Where does Minnesota rank in terms of total area for water?

Minnesota, known by the nickname  “Land of 10,000 Lakes” is the state with the ninth largest total water area. Minnesota has 7,309 square miles of water.

States With the Highest Percentage of Water

Percentage wise, however, Michigan ranks as the number one state with 41.5% of its total area occupied by water.  Michigan has more than 64,980 inland lakes and ponds.

Michigan is flanked by four of the five Great Lakes, as well as Lake St. Clair, and boasts the world’s longest freshwater shoreline of any governmental unit. Sources of water are so abundant in Michigan that no one is ever more than 6 miles from a body of water in Michigan, or 85 miles from a Great Lake.

Hawaii, with 41.2% of its total area water-based, is a close second.  Hawaii is the only state that is totally surrounded by water and is made up of islands.

Hawaii has an abundance of fresh water and hundreds of streams but very few natural lakes. Only In Hawaii, there are just five natural lakes, all of which are quite small, but 266 freshwater reservoirs with a surface area of up to 400 acres have been formed by impounding stream waters.

Alaska’s percentage of area that is water is only 14.2%.

Chart: Percentage of Perennial Water by Area for Each U.S. State

This chart shows how the states stack up in terms of percentage of area that is water:

Map Showing the Percentage of Water Area Per State

The tile grid map below shows which states are the driest (light grey and light blue) and which states are the wettest (medium and dark blues).  

Only three states have 30% or more water area: Rhode Island, Michigan, and Hawaii.  

On the dry side, thirty states have less than five percent water area.

What are the Driest States?

The driest states are found mostly in the mid-west and western part of the country.  New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Nevada, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, and West Virginia all have less than 1% of each state’s total area as water.

Table: Land Area and Water Area of Each State and the District of Columbia

This table shows the total land area and water area of each state and the District of Columbia.  

State	Total area square miles	Total area square kilometers	Land area square miles	Land area square kilometers	Water area square miles	Water area square kilometers	Percent area, water
Alabama	52,420	135,767	50,645	131,171	1,775	4,597	3.40%
Alaska	665,384	1,723,337	570,641	1,477,953	94,743	245,383	14.20%
Arizona	113,990	295,234	113,594	294,207	396	1,026	0.30%
Arkansas	53,179	137,732	52,035	134,771	1,143	2,961	2.10%
California	163,695	423,967	155,779	403,466	7,916	20,501	4.80%
Colorado	104,094	269,601	103,642	268,431	452	1,170	0.40%
Connecticut	5,543	14,357	4,842	12,542	701	1,816	12.60%
Delaware	2,489	6,446	1,949	5,047	540	1,399	21.70%
District of Columbia	68	177	61	158	7	19	10.30%
Florida	65,758	170,312	53,625	138,887	12,133	31,424	18.50%
Georgia	59,425	153,910	57,513	148,959	1,912	4,951	3.20%
Hawaii	10,932	28,313	6,423	16,635	4,509	11,678	41.20%
Idaho	83,569	216,443	82,643	214,045	926	2,398	1.10%
Illinois	57,914	149,995	55,519	143,793	2,395	6,202	4.10%
Indiana	36,420	94,326	35,826	92,789	593	1,537	1.60%
Iowa	56,273	145,746	55,857	144,669	416	1,077	0.70%
Kansas	82,278	213,100	81,759	211,754	520	1,346	0.60%
Kentucky	40,408	104,656	39,486	102,269	921	2,387	2.30%
Louisiana	52,378	135,659	43,204	111,898	9,174	23,761	17.50%
Maine	35,380	91,633	30,843	79,883	4,537	11,750	12.80%
Maryland	12,406	32,131	9,707	25,142	2,699	6,990	21.80%
Massachusetts	10,554	27,336	7,800	20,202	2,754	7,134	26.10%
Michigan	96,714	250,487	56,539	146,435	40,175	104,052	41.50%
Minnesota	86,936	225,163	79,627	206,232	7,309	18,930	8.40%
Mississippi	48,432	125,438	46,923	121,531	1,509	3,907	3.10%
Missouri	69,707	180,540	68,742	178,040	965	2,501	1.40%
Montana	147,040	380,831	145,546	376,962	1,494	3,869	1.00%
Nebraska	77,348	200,330	76,824	198,974	524	1,356	0.70%
Nevada	110,572	286,380	109,781	284,332	791	2,048	0.70%
New Hampshire	9,349	24,214	8,953	23,187	397	1,027	4.20%
New Jersey	8,723	22,591	7,354	19,047	1,368	3,544	15.70%
New Mexico	121,590	314,917	121,298	314,161	292	757	0.20%
New York	54,555	141,297	47,126	122,057	7,429	19,240	13.60%
North Carolina	53,819	139,391	48,618	125,920	5,201	13,471	9.70%
North Dakota	70,698	183,108	69,001	178,711	1,698	4,397	2.40%
Ohio	44,826	116,098	40,861	105,829	3,965	10,269	8.80%
Oklahoma	69,899	181,037	68,595	177,660	1,304	3,377	1.90%
Oregon	98,379	254,799	95,988	248,608	2,391	6,191	2.40%
Pennsylvania	46,054	119,280	44,743	115,883	1,312	3,397	2.80%
Rhode Island	1,545	4,001	1,034	2,678	511	1,324	33.10%
South Carolina	32,020	82,933	30,061	77,857	1,960	5,076	6.10%
South Dakota	77,116	199,729	75,811	196,350	1,305	3,379	1.70%
Tennessee	42,144	109,153	41,235	106,798	909	2,355	2.20%
Texas	268,596	695,662	261,232	676,587	7,365	19,075	2.70%
Utah	84,897	219,882	82,170	212,818	2,727	7,064	3.20%
Vermont	9,616	24,906	9,217	23,871	400	1,035	4.20%
Virginia	42,775	110,787	39,490	102,279	3,285	8,508	7.70%
Washington	71,298	184,661	66,456	172,119	4,842	12,542	6.80%
West Virginia	24,230	62,756	24,038	62,259	192	497	0.80%
Wisconsin	65,496	169,635	54,158	140,268	11,339	29,367	17.30%
Wyoming	97,813	253,335	97,093	251,470	720	1,864	0.70%
United States	3,796,742	9,833,517	3,531,905	9,147,593	264,837	685,924	7.00%

This article was originally written on November 10, 2015 and has since been updated.

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