8 states · 5 lakes · 86,278,976 people · Eastern and Central time
Great Lakes states map
The Great Lakes states are the eight with a shore on one of the five lakes: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York. Ontario, on the other side, is the ninth member of the Great Lakes region.
How the region is defined
Membership is settled by geography: a state is a Great Lakes state if it touches one of the lakes. That gives eight — Minnesota (Superior), Wisconsin (Superior and Michigan), Illinois and Indiana (Michigan), Michigan (four of the five), Ohio and Pennsylvania (Erie) and New York (Erie and Ontario). These eight are the US members of the Great Lakes Commission and, with Ontario and Quebec, of the Great Lakes Compact on water use. The Census has no such region: five of the states are its East North Central division, Minnesota is West North Central, and Pennsylvania and New York are in the Northeast.
The eight states had 86,278,976 people in 2020 on 488,915 square miles — 26% of the country's population. New York City, Chicago and Philadelphia are all in the group, and Detroit, Columbus, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Buffalo, Pittsburgh and the Twin Cities are all within 100 miles of a lake or the region's rivers.
States, capitals and largest cities
| State | Capital | Largest city | Population (2020) | Area (sq mi) | Lakes bordered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota (MN) | Saint Paul | Minneapolis | 5,706,494 | 86,936 | Superior |
| Wisconsin (WI) | Madison | Milwaukee | 5,893,718 | 65,496 | Superior, Michigan |
| Illinois (IL) | Springfield | Chicago | 12,812,508 | 57,914 | Michigan |
| Indiana (IN) | Indianapolis | Indianapolis | 6,785,528 | 36,420 | Michigan |
| Michigan (MI) | Lansing | Detroit | 10,077,331 | 96,714 | Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie |
| Ohio (OH) | Columbus | Columbus | 11,799,448 | 44,826 | Erie |
| Pennsylvania (PA) | Harrisburg | Philadelphia | 13,002,700 | 46,054 | Erie |
| New York (NY) | Albany | New York City | 20,201,249 | 54,555 | Erie, Ontario |
| Total (8 states) | 86,278,976 | 488,915 |
Geography
The five lakes hold about a fifth of the world's surface fresh water. From west to east: Lake Superior (31,700 sq mi, the largest freshwater lake on earth by area, up to 1,333 ft deep), Lake Michigan (22,300 sq mi, the only lake entirely in the US), Lake Huron (23,000 sq mi), Lake Erie (9,900 sq mi, the shallowest, averaging 62 ft) and Lake Ontario (7,340 sq mi). Water flows from Superior through the St. Marys River and the Soo Locks into Huron, from Huron down the St. Clair and Detroit rivers into Erie, over Niagara Falls into Ontario, and out through the St. Lawrence to the Atlantic. Michigan and Huron are joined at the Straits of Mackinac and are technically one lake.
The land around the lakes is glacial: flat lake plains near the shores, low moraine hills inland, and the older rock of the Canadian Shield exposed in northern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The highest points are modest — Eagle Mountain, Minnesota, 2,301 ft; Timms Hill, Wisconsin, 1,951 ft — except in New York and Pennsylvania, whose high points are in the Adirondacks and Alleghenies well away from the lakes. Michigan has 3,200 miles of shoreline and touches four lakes; Illinois has 63 miles on one.
The lakes moderate the climate of the shores and produce lake-effect snow on their eastern sides: Buffalo, Erie, Cleveland, the Upper Peninsula and western Michigan get some of the heaviest snowfall east of the Rockies. Time zones: New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and most of Michigan are Eastern; Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota are Central.
Related maps
- Official versions: East North Central division, Midwest and Northeast regions.
- Quizzes: Midwest states quiz, Northeast states quiz.
- Cities: Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Minneapolis; capitals Lansing, Madison, Columbus, Albany.
- Geography: Great Lakes, Largest lakes, Ohio River.