Bethel Census Area, AK Elevation & Topographic Map
Elevation
9,680 ft 2,950 m7,260 ft 2,215 m6,050 ft 1,845 m3,630 ft 1,105 m1,210 ft 370 m0 ft 0 m
Zoom in for contour lines
USGS 3DEP · U.S. Census Bureau
How to use this mapviews, tools and data
- Elevation
- Ground colored by height from green (lowest) to white (highest), with contour lines every 40–500 ft (USGS data).
- Satellite
- A 2016 satellite photo at 33 ft (10 m) detail; contours off.
- 3D
- Tilt and turn the terrain; hills are raised 1.5×, or set ×1 for true height.
- Click or tap anywhere
- The exact elevation of that spot in ft and m.
- Measure
- Pick two points for the climb, descent and grade along a straight line.
- Area area
- Fades everything outside the official census area boundary (US Census).
Elevation Data
Bethel Census Area averages about 800 ft (245 m) above sea level across all its land. Its ground runs from sea level on the Bering Sea to 9,680 ft on Mount Hesperus.
Average elevation
800 ft 245 m
all land inside the census area
Highest
9,680 ft 2,950 m
on Mount Hesperus
Lowest
0 ft 0 m
at sea level on the Bering Sea
Bethel Census Area spans about 9,680 ft of height, so no single spot tells the whole story. The ruler shows where most of its land lies, and where the other numbers you'll see come from.
| Figure | Elevation |
|---|---|
| Average of all land | 800 ft245 m |
| Highest point Inside the census area, on Mount Hesperus (3DEP terrain model; no NGS survey height) | 9,680 ft2,950 m |
| Lowest point Where the land meets the Bering Sea | 0 ft0 m |
Elevation profile, west to east
208 mi west to east through Bethel.
Topographic Map
- Location
- Census Area in Alaska, United States
- Population
- 18,237 2024 est.
- Land area
- 40,654.9 sq mi + 4,900.7 sq mi water
- Density
- 0.4 per sq mi
- Time zone
- Alaska UTC−9 / −8
- Drains to
- Bering Sea 92%
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Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, USGS
Nearby Places
Neighboring boroughs and census areas sharing a border, by average
- Matanuska-Susitna Borough2,930 ft
- Kenai Peninsula Borough1,980 ft
- Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area1,240 ft
- Lake and Peninsula Borough1,020 ft
- Bethel Census Area800 ft
- Dillingham Census Area710 ft
- Kusilvak Census Area200 ft
Rankings by average elevation
- Boroughs and census areas in Alaska20th highest of 26
- Counties in the United States1,803rd highest of 3,151
Peaks and hills highest inside
- Mount Hesperus9,680 ft
- The Apocalypse9,360 ft
- South Buttress9,300 ft
- Mount Mausolus9,080 ft
- The Angel9,050 ft
All 35 towns in Bethel Census Area by typical elevation
- Lime Village700 ft
- Red Devil500 ft
- Tununak300 ft
- Sleetmute280 ft
- Platinum270 ft
- Stony River220 ft
- Crooked Creek200 ft
- Mertarvik200 ft
- Chuathbaluk200 ft
- Aniak88 ft
- Upper Kalskag88 ft
- Lower Kalskag61 ft
- Toksook Bay51 ft
- Mekoryuk50 ft
- Goodnews Bay45 ft
- Tuluksak40 ft
- Bethel38 ft
- Kasigluk32 ft
- Kongiganak28 ft
- Akiak27 ft
- Eek22 ft
- Akiachak20 ft
- Quinhagak18 ft
- Kwethluk18 ft
- Oscarville14 ft
- Napaskiak14 ft
- Napakiak13 ft
- Kwigillingok10 ft
- Atmautluak9 ft
- Nightmute9 ft
- Chefornak9 ft
- Kipnuk9 ft
- Nunapitchuk9 ft
- Newtok8 ft
- Tuntutuliak8 ft
How we measure
- Average: every USGS 3DEP bare-earth cell of land inside the Census census area boundary (TIGER/Line, Jan 1 2026), weighted equally, on a 12 arc-second (≈1,220 ft, 370 m) grid, coarsened from 1 arc-second so the whole area fits one run. Land means the boundary minus Census area water (on this grid, water areas of at least half a cell).
- Highest and lowest: the highest land cell, re-read at 1 arc-second around the 25 highest grid cells; it is a named summit, so its height is the peak method: the 3DEP top on a ~7 ft (2 m) window, or the NGS published height when a survey mark sits within 160 ft (50 m) of it. Lowest: the lowest land cell, re-read at 1 arc-second around the 25 lowest grid cells; coastal ground within 3 ft (1 m) of named tidal water counts as sea level.
- Pits: the lowest point is the lowest ground outside closed hollows (quarry floors, mine pits, terrain-model artifacts): any hollow under 0.4 sq mi (1 km²), and any hollow under 2 sq mi (5 km²) whose floor is more than 100 ft (30 m) below its rim; and outside patches below sea level of under 0.4 sq mi (1 km²). The single lowest 3DEP cell, 0 ft at 60.7985° N, 164.9043° W, is in such a hollow or patch and is not counted; this coastal land's lowest point is sea level on the coast.
- Nearby Places: neighboring boroughs and census areas and rankings use each one's average elevation, on its own grid, the same figure its page shows. Peaks and hills: the highest summits inside the census area with at least 980 ft (300 m) of prominence, then the highest federal (GNIS) summits inside it when there are fewer than 5; each is the 3DEP top on a ~7 ft (2 m) window, or the NGS published height when a usable survey mark sits within 160 ft (50 m) of it (shown as published).
- Towns: each town's typical elevation (population-weighted median of its own 2020 blocks at 1 arc-second); a town is listed when any of its 2020 residents live in the census area.
- Rounding: computed heights are rounded to 10 ft (5 m), or to 1 ft (1 m) under 100 ft; 3DEP is good to about a meter, not a foot. Published figures (NGS survey heights) are shown as their publisher gives them.
- Alaska: much of Alaska's 3DEP comes from airborne radar (IfSAR), good to a few meters.
- Datum: North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88). NGS plans to replace NAVD 88 with a new datum (NAPGD2022); heights will then shift slightly.
- Sources: USGS 3DEP, GNIS, Watershed Boundary Dataset and physiographic provinces; U.S. Census Bureau (TIGER boundaries and water, 2020 blocks, 2024 population estimates, county adjacency); NOAA NGS survey heights; BTS time zones. All public domain.