Merced County, CA Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Merced County, California, shaded from 43 ft on the northwest side to 3,803 ft on Laveaga Peak
Elevation
3,800 ft 1,160 m2,860 ft 875 m2,390 ft 730 m1,450 ft 445 m510 ft 155 m43 ft 13 m
Zoom in for contour lines
USGS 3DEP · U.S. Census Bureau
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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.
County area
Fades everything outside the official county boundary (US Census).

Elevation Data

Merced County averages about 390 ft (120 m) above sea level across all its land. Its ground runs from 43 ft on the northwest side to 3,803 ft on Laveaga Peak.

Average elevation
390 ft 120 m
all land inside the county
Highest
3,803 ft 1,159 m
on Laveaga Peak
Lowest
43 ft 13 m
on the northwest side

Merced County spans about 3,757 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.

FigureElevation
Average of all land390 ft120 m
Highest point
Inside the county, on Laveaga Peak (NGS survey height)
3,803 ft1,159 m
Lowest point
Inside the county, on the northwest side
43 ft13 m

Elevation profile, west to east

46 mi west to east through Merced.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Merced County, California, shaded from 43 ft on the northwest side to 3,803 ft on Laveaga Peak
County boundary (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 500 ft (152 m).
Location
County in California, United States
Population
296,774 2024 est.
Land area
1,938.0 sq mi + 40.6 sq mi water
Density
153 per sq mi
Time zone
Pacific UTC−8 / −7
Landform region
Pacific Border
Drains to
Pacific Ocean
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Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, USGS

Nearby Places

Neighboring counties sharing a border, by average

  1. Mariposa County3,620 ft
  2. Fresno County3,320 ft
  3. Madera County3,070 ft
  4. San Benito County1,920 ft
  5. Santa Clara County1,250 ft
  6. Stanislaus County520 ft
  7. Merced County390 ft

Rankings by average elevation

Peaks and hills highest inside

  • Laveaga Peak3,803 ft
  • Potrero Peak3,730 ft
  • Mariposa Peak3,448 ft
  • Cathedral Peak, Merced County3,440 ft
  • Ortigalita Peak3,307 ft
All 24 towns in Merced County by typical elevation
  1. Snelling260 ft
  2. Le Grand250 ft
  3. Planada230 ft
  4. Tuttle200 ft
  5. Bear Creek190 ft
  6. Winton170 ft
  7. Merced170 ft
  8. Cressey170 ft
  9. Franklin160 ft
  10. Santa Nella160 ft
  11. Atwater160 ft
  12. Ballico150 ft
  13. McSwain150 ft
  14. Livingston130 ft
  15. El Nido130 ft
  16. Delhi120 ft
  17. Dos Palos110 ft
  18. South Dos Palos110 ft
  19. Los Banos110 ft
  20. Dos Palos Y110 ft
  21. Volta100 ft
  22. Gustine100 ft
  23. Hilmar-Irwin91 ft
  24. Stevinson83 ft
How we measure
  • Average: every USGS 3DEP bare-earth cell of land inside the Census county boundary (TIGER/Line, Jan 1 2026), weighted equally, on a 2 arc-second (≈200 ft, 62 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.
  • Nearby Places: neighboring counties 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 county 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 county.
  • 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.
  • 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.