USLakeFront
A national survey of American lakes

Know the water
before you love the house.

Every listing site shows you granite countertops. We show you the drawdown schedule, the dock authority, the clarity, and what the first year actually costs.

101
Lakes surveyed
50
States
25,769,426
Acres mapped
Highest scoring

Lakes worth your weekend

Ranked on water quality, value, access, recreation, and investment posture.

All 101 lakes →
Aerial - Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho 02 - white balanced (9967555224).jpg Water A

Lake Pend Oreille

Idaho · 94,600 acres
1,150 ft deep · 30 ft clarity
7.4
Managed 111 mi shore Natural
$1,060,000 median est. +12.3%
Sunrise at the Seneca lake - New York - US.jpg Water A

Seneca Lake

New York · 43,343 acres
618 ft deep · 25 ft clarity
7.4
Natural 75 mi shore Natural
$1,220,000 median est. +4.1%
Beaver Lake from Prairie Creek, Arkansas.jpg Water B

Beaver Lake

Arkansas · 28,000 acres
228 ft deep · 18 ft clarity
7.3
Managed 483 mi shore Reservoir
$700,000 median est. +5.9%
Bathing beach, Sebago Lake State Park, Naples, Maine (79783).jpg Water A

Sebago Lake

Maine · 28,771 acres
316 ft deep · 30 ft clarity
7.3
Stable 105 mi shore Natural
$875,000 median est. -2.2%
Crystal River FL-Little Springs Park.JPG Water A

Crystal River

Florida · 1,200 acres
15 ft deep · 30 ft clarity
7.2
Stable 8 mi shore Spring-fed
$690,000 median est. +4.5%
BLM Winter Bucket List -6- Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, for the Annual Eagle Count (15933242690).jpg Water A

Lake Coeur d'Alene

Idaho · 31,000 acres
220 ft deep · 25 ft clarity
7.2
Stable 109 mi shore Natural
$1,085,000 median est. -2.4%
Man pouring something at the rear of a small boat 1907.jpg Water A

Flathead Lake

Montana · 126,000 acres
370 ft deep · 30 ft clarity
7.2
Managed 185 mi shore Natural
$1,075,000 median est. +2.9%
Greers Ferry Lake, Arkansas LOC 82691818.jpg Water B

Greers Ferry Lake

Arkansas · 31,500 acres
180 ft deep · 20 ft clarity
7.1
Managed 276 mi shore Reservoir
$795,000 median est. +7.7%
Aerial - Lake Pend Oreille, Idaho 02 - white balanced (9967555224).jpg
The difference

Most lake listings hide
the thing that matters

A reservoir can drop forty feet in autumn. A dock may need federal approval that never comes. A lake can prohibit the rental income you underwrote. None of that is in the photos.

Water level history
Live USGS gauge readings and multi-year trends.
Dock authority
Who actually approves a dock — USACE, TVA, a utility, or the state.
Regulation risk
Short-term rental posture and shoreline rules before you offer.
Total carry
Every recurring cost of waterfront ownership, modeled.
How we source our data →

Joe Mabel · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

On the market

Waterfront homes

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Free tools

Run the numbers before you fall in love

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Learn

Guides & research

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Real water

Photographed, not illustrated

157 photographs of the actual lakes, from Wikimedia Commons.

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Photographs via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY / CC BY-SA / public domain. Credit on each lake page.

Provenance

Built on the public record

Water levels and temperature come from U.S. Geological Survey gauges. Water quality from the EPA and state agencies. Reservoir operations from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Every source is public, federal, and free — which is exactly why nobody else has bothered to assemble it.

USGS
Water data
EPA
Quality
USACE
Reservoirs
The map

Every lake we track

Circle size is surface area. Color is overall score. Hover for detail, click to open the report.

high score mid lower
Browse by state

Every state, every lake

The number beside each state is how many of its lakes we have surveyed so far.

Alabama 3 Alaska 2 Arizona 2 Arkansas 3 California 3 Colorado 3 Connecticut 2 Delaware 1 Florida 3 Georgia 3 Hawaii 1 Idaho 3 Illinois 2 Indiana 2 Iowa 1 Kansas 1 Kentucky 2 Louisiana 1 Maine 2 Maryland 1 Massachusetts 1 Michigan 3 Minnesota 3 Mississippi 1 Missouri 2 Montana 2 Nebraska 1 Nevada 1 New Hampshire 2 New Jersey 1 New Mexico 1 New York 3 North Carolina 3 North Dakota 1 Ohio 2 Oklahoma 2 Oregon 2 Pennsylvania 2 Rhode Island 1 South Carolina 3 South Dakota 1 Tennessee 3 Texas 4 Utah 3 Vermont 1 Virginia 2 Washington 2 West Virginia 2 Wisconsin 3 Wyoming 2