No, Wisconsin Does Not Have More Lakes Than Minnesota

MINNESOTA — Minnesota, more than even our cold winters and "Purple Rain," is known for being the "Land of 10,000 Lakes." It says so right on our license plates.

But does Minnesota really have 10,000 lakes? And is your Wisconsin relative right that the Badger state has more than Minnesota?

Let's start with what each state defines as a lake. Minnesota's Department of Natural Resources counts anything 10 acres or more as a lake. By that definition, Minnesota has 11,842 lakes. Our license plates, it turns out, are lowballing us.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin's DNR says their state has 15,000 lakes. Here's the catch; the Wisconsin DNR has no size requirement for its lakes. Going by their looser standard, Minnesota has more than 20,000 lakes.

"Not counting the Great Lakes that comprise state borders, Minnesota has about 2.6 million acres of lakes," Minnesota DNR spokesperson Julie Forster told KARE 11. "Wisconsin has about 1 million acres of lakes."

Minnesota has 11,842 (10+ acres) lakes, according to the DNR. We also have 6,564 rivers and streams, comprising 69,200 miles.

Here's another fun piece of trivia: the ten most common lake names in Minnesota are Mud, Long, Rice, Bass, Round, Horseshoe, Twin, Island, Johnson, and Spring.