America’s Cleanest Lake Is Right Here in Michigan—Virtually Zero Pollution

When you think "clean water," you might think of the bottled spring or Caribbean lagoon variety, but did you know that America's cleanest lake is hiding in plain sight right here in Michigan, and that it registers "virtually zero pollution?"

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A 2025 study conducted by the experts at Lake.com has rated the country's freshwater bodies for cleanliness, and the winner is massive, beautiful, and right here in the Mitten State.

How the Lake.com Study Ranked America's Lakes

Using information from the National Water Quality Monitoring Council (data from 2020-2025), Lake.com looked at 100 of the nation's largest lakes, looking at pollution indicators like dissolved oxygen, ammonia, lead, phosphorus, sulfate, pH balance, and a laundry list of reasons that would make you nauseous if you were to dive in headfirst.

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What did the study show? For the most part, it concluded that the larger the lake, the cleaner it is. But that doesn't mean they’re pollution-free.

Clean vs. Not So Clean: What the Study Found

The dirtiest lake in the country is not in Michigan. That title goes to Florida's Lake Okeechobee, followed closely by Utah Lake, conveniently located in Utah.

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Sure, both of them are big bodies of water, but high levels of turbidity (the cloudiness of a liquid), phosphorus, and algae growth are why they are at the bottom of the list.

And the Cleanest Lake in America and Michigan Is...

Lake Superior. According to the Lake.com study, it registers nearly zero pollution. The largest of the Great Lakes is oxygen-rich, offers fantastic visibility, nearly undetectable levels of phosphorus, and has very low levels of dissolved solids. Translation? Lake Superior is as clean as America's lakes get.

Seeing as it's the largest freshwater lake in the world with a surface area of 31,700 square miles and the home of some of the most picturesque shorelines you'll find anywhere in the world (looking at you, Pictured Rocks and Paradise Cove), and plays host to legions of tourist kayakers, shipwreck divers, and fishing enthusiasts, let's keep this treasure as clean as we can, Michigan.