We love the Chesapeake Bay. Here are the basic facts, in plain words, so you know the Bay before you visit.

Quick answer: The Chesapeake Bay is the largest of more than 100 estuaries in the United States. It is about 200 miles long and about 21 feet deep on average. Its watershed covers more than 64,000 square miles in six states and the District of Columbia.

Contents

What Is the Bay?

The Bay is an estuary. That is a place where fresh river water mixes with salt water from the ocean. The Chesapeake is the largest of more than 100 estuaries in the United States.[1] Its water is brackish, with a salt level between 0.5 and 25 parts per thousand.[2]

How Big Is It?

Measure Value
Length About 200 miles, Havre de Grace to Virginia Beach
Width 3.4 to 35 miles
Average depth About 21 feet
Deepest point 174 feet
Shoreline 11,684 miles
Surface area About 4,480 square miles

Source: Chesapeake Bay Program.[1]

Where Does the Water Come From?

Rivers from Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and D.C. drain into the Bay.[3] The Susquehanna, Potomac and James rivers give more than 80 percent of its fresh water.[2]

Who Lives Here?

More than 18.5 million people live in the watershed.[3] Nearly 1 million waterfowl spend the winter on the Bay. Bald eagle pairs grew from as few as 60 in the 1970s to as many as 3,000 today.[2]

Frequently asked questions

Is the Chesapeake Bay salt water? It is brackish: a mix of fresh and salt water, between 0.5 and 25 parts per thousand.

How big is the Chesapeake Bay? About 200 miles long and 3.4 to 35 miles wide.

What states are in the Chesapeake Bay watershed? Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

References

See it all on our Chesapeake Bay map.