Alaska is the state with the most naturally formed lakes, containing 3,197 lakes and over 3 million unnamed lakes. Many of the lakes are unnamed because of the size of Alaska and the remote nature of much of the state.

Alaska is the undisputed champion of lakes in the United States, far surpassing any other state in total count. According to the USGS, Alaska contains over 3 million natural lakes, most of which are unnamed and located in remote wilderness areas. To put this in perspective, approximately 40% of all surface water in the U.S. is found within Alaska's borders. While Minnesota is famously nicknamed "The Land of 10,000 Lakes," its official count by the Department of Natural Resources is actually 11,842. While this is a massive number for the lower 48 states, it is dwarfed by Alaska's millions. If the criteria are narrowed to "named lakes over 10 acres," Alaska still leads with over 3,000, but Florida and Michigan also rank highly in these categories. However, when speaking about the raw number of naturally occurring bodies of water, Alaska remains the "wettest" state in the union by an astronomical margin.