Wisconsin professes to have 15,074 lakes (see related links).

However, 9,037 of these lakes are unnamed and average only four acres in size, leaving only 6044 that are named. According to WI DNR, "Of the 15,074 documented lakes in Wisconsin, only about 40 percent have actually been named. The majority of the unnamed lakes are very small, less than 10 acres". The WI DNR also states, "About 3,620 of the state's lakes are larger than 20 acres, constituting more than 93 percent of the surface area of Wisconsin's inland lakes." http://dnr.wi.gov/lakes/about/factsandfigures.html

In contrast, Minnesota has 11,842 named lakes larger than ten acres (see related links).

When including unnamed lakes over ten acres the number for Minnesota is 15,291. http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/history/mnstatehistory/state_facts.html

In addition, when considering the surface area of each of the states five largest lakes (great lakes excluded), Wisconsin's largest cover 204,105 acres whereas Minnesota's top five total 896,387. Furthermore, the surface area of Minnesota's largest eight lakes is greater than all 15,074 lakes in Wisconsin.

Total surface area covered by lakes in each state

Wisconsin: 1,000,000 (see related links). Minnesota: 2,560,299 acres (http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/faq/mnfacts/water.html)

EDITOR'S NOTES: According to the Minnesota DNR page, Minnesota has 11,842 lakes that are over 10 acres, not 15,291 This discrepancy is due to the number of named versus unnamed lakes and only the number of named lakes is addressed on the MN DNR website. The statistic about 20,000 lakes in Minnesota greater than five acres is also not cited. In addition, the author misrepresented data as a simple calculation of the sum total of Minnesota's eight largest lakes (according to the cited DNR reference) is 697,000 acres This does not include the 307,000 acres represented by the MN portion of Lake of the Woods. The only qualifier with this statement is that Great Lakes are not included and thus the data are not misrepresented. This is not greater than the total surface area of Wisconsin's inland lakes. It is also a moot point as Minnesota has several uniquely large inland lakes. Moreover, no mention is made concerning the average area of the "unnamed Wisconsin lakes," This was addressed in the first paragraph where it is stated that the unnamed lakes in Wisconsin average 4 acres in size. merely that a majority of them are under 10 acres, leaving an unspecified number that are greater than 10 acres. A conservative estimate that 49% of the unnamed lakes are over 10 acres gives 4428 unnamed lakes over 10 acres in WI. Even if all the named lakes in WI were over ten acres (not true) the sum of 10+ acre unnamed and named lakes in WI is 10,472, or nearly 1400 less than the named lakes over 10 acres in MN. This leaves the argument at a standstill until specific data is obtained and presented.

At any rate, none of this is relevant as the question is not stated "Which state has more lakes greater than 10 acres between Minnesota and Wisconsin?" In terms of water-to-land ratio, it should be noted that the total area of Minnesota is 86,938.87 sq. mi. compared to the total area of Wisconsin at 35 million acres , or 54,687.5 sq. mi., making it 59% larger. This would be a pertinent rejoinder to address arguments made on the basis of arbitrary non-state criteria.

In regard to the final comment, the water surface area of Minnesota quoted at the bottom includes rivers and lakes (including the portion of Lake Superior and Lake of the Woods within Minnesota state boundary). The water surface area of Wisconsin quoted on its DNR page only addresses the area of inland lakes, but includes that, "The portions of Lakes Michigan and Superior that lie within Wisconsin's boundaries add nearly 6.5 million acres of water to Wisconsin."

The verdict is still out on this argument, however, as the valid point exists that Wisconsin incorporates smaller-sized lakes into the number of its inland lakes. According to the current official record by the state DNR departments, Minnesota has 11,842 lakes and Wisconsin has 15,074. But if the same metrics were used, Minnesota may have more lakes, in absolute terms, than Wisconsin (although this is yet uncertain and would prove difficult as arguments over appropriate metrics, taking into account surface area and depth, would ensue). It would seem that this whole argument is based on Minnesota's slogan "The Land of 10,000 Lakes" and the long history of rivalry between the two states. Is this slogan referring to the state's superior quantity of lakes or simply portraying that it is a land with a unique relative abundance of freshwater in the form of lakes? If the former, then Minnesota may be the victor although Alaska wins over any other state by a landslide with over three million lakes . If the latter, then Wisconsin unequivocally possesses a greater resource of these freshwater bodies over Minnesota as the state is considerably smaller and defined by water on nearly all sides. On the topic of freshwater resources it should also be mentioned that Minnesota's 1.09 million acre Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) contains over 1200 lakes alone and 1500 miles of canoe routes. It is the largest water based park in the US National Parks system.

Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Which_state_has_more_lakes_Minnesota_or_Wisconsin#ixzz1YAIzg1ik