how many us states border canada including lakes

February 21, 2026

Fourteen U.S. states border Canada if you count both land borders and water boundaries through lakes and rivers.

Core answer

When you include boundaries that run through lakes and other inland waters (not just land crossings), the U.S.–Canada border touches 14 states.

Those states are:

Alaska
Washington
Idaho
Montana
North Dakota
Minnesota
Michigan
Ohio
Pennsylvania
New York
Vermont
New Hampshire
Maine
Indiana (via the water boundary in Lake Michigan’s binational waters)

Several popular quizzes or travel articles list 13 states because they only count those with obvious land crossings or major shared waterways, but if every official water boundary is included, the total rises to 14.