Rivers in North America Ranked by Drainage basin area

Name: Rivers in North America Ranked by Drainage basin area
Creator: Wikidata
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Rivers recorded in Wikidata, ranked by Drainage basin. Figures for long rivers vary between sources, depending on where the source and mouth are measured. Only items Wikidata places in North America (directly or through their country) are included. Source: Wikidata (CC0 1.0 (public domain)).

Summary

Mississippi River ranks #1 with 2.98 million km². That is 1.7 times Mackenzie River in second place (1.81 million km²). The top five are Mississippi River, Mackenzie River, Missouri River, St. Lawrence River and Nelson River. The median across all 50 is 156,098 km²; Tennessee River is last at 104,000 km².

#1: Mississippi River · 2.98 million km²
Median: 156,098 km²
Coverage: 50 rivers in North America
Data year: As recorded in Wikidata
Last updated: 2026-11-14

Top 10: Drainage basin (km²). Bar chart of the top 10: 1. Mississippi River 2.98 million; 2. Mackenzie River 1.81 million; 3. Missouri River 1.37 million; 4. St. Lawrence River 1.34 million; 5. Nelson River 1.09 million; 6. Yukon River 832,000; 7. Columbia River 668,217; 8. Niagara River 665,000; 9. Colorado River 637,137; 10. Slave River 616,400.

Full ranking

Rivers in North America Ranked by Drainage basin area
Rank	River	Location	Drainage basin (km²)
1	Mississippi River	United States	2,981,000
2	Mackenzie River	Canada	1,805,200
3	Missouri River	United States	1,371,010
4	St. Lawrence River	Canada, United States	1,344,200
5	Nelson River	Canada	1,093,442
6	Yukon River	Canada, United States	832,000
7	Columbia River	Canada, United States	668,217
8	Niagara River	Canada, United States	665,000
9	Colorado River	United States, Mexico	637,137
10	Slave River	Canada	616,400
11	Ohio River	United States	528,100
12	Arkansas River	United States	505,000
13	Rio Grande	United States, Mexico	471,900
14	Saskatchewan River	Canada	335,900
15	Peace River	Canada	302,500
16	Red River of the North	Canada, United States	297,000
17	Churchill River	Canada	281,300
18	Snake River	United States	278,450
19	Liard River	Canada	276,000
20	Platte River	United States	241,000
21	Fraser River	Canada	233,100
22	Red River	United States	233,000
23	St. Marys River	Canada, United States	210,000
24	Yellowstone River	United States	181,299
25	Great Bear River	Canada	156,500
26	Kansas River	United States	155,695
27	Atchafalaya River	United States	150,737
28	Gila River	United States	150,737
29	South Saskatchewan River	Canada	146,100
30	Ottawa River	Canada	146,000
31	Thelon River	Canada	142,400
32	Winnipeg River	Canada	135,800
33	Albany River	Canada	135,200
34	Grijalva River	Mexico	134,400
35	Koksoak River	Canada	133,000
36	Green River	United States	124,578
37	Kuskokwim River	United States	124,319
38	Canadian River	United States	124,000
39	North Saskatchewan River	Canada	122,800
40	Brazos River	United States	116,000
41	Mobile River	United States	114,000
42	Tanana River	United States	113,959
43	Balsas River	Mexico	113,100
44	Hayes River	Canada	108,000
45	Koukdjuak River	Canada	108,000
46	Back River	Canada	106,500
47	Alabama River	United States	106,000
48	Usumacinta River	Mexico	106,000
49	Illinois River	United States	104,000
50	Tennessee River	United States	104,000