Monterey County, CA Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Monterey County, California, shaded from 5 ft below sea level on the northwest side to 5,857 ft on Junipero Serra Peak
Elevation
5,860 ft 1,785 m4,390 ft 1,340 m3,660 ft 1,115 m2,190 ft 670 m730 ft 220 m−5 ft −1 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

Monterey County averages about 1,440 ft (440 m) above sea level across all its land. Its ground runs from 5 ft below sea level on the northwest side to 5,857 ft on Junipero Serra Peak.

Average elevation
1,440 ft 440 m
all land inside the county
Highest
5,857 ft 1,785 m
on Junipero Serra Peak
Lowest
−5 ft −1 m
on the northwest side

Monterey County spans about 5,865 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 land1,440 ft440 m
Highest point
Inside the county, on Junipero Serra Peak (NGS survey height)
5,857 ft1,785 m
Lowest point
Inside the county, on the northwest side
−5 ft−1 m

Elevation profile, south to north

62 mi south to north through Salinas.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Monterey County, California, shaded from 5 ft below sea level on the northwest side to 5,857 ft on Junipero Serra Peak
County boundary (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 500 ft (152 m).
Location
County in California, United States
Population
436,251 2024 est.
Land area
3,281.7 sq mi + 489.5 sq mi water
Density
133 per sq mi
Time zone
Pacific UTC−8 / −7
Landform region
Pacific Border 98%
Drains to
Pacific Ocean
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Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, USGS

Nearby Places

Neighboring counties sharing a border, by average

  1. Fresno County3,320 ft
  2. San Benito County1,920 ft
  3. San Luis Obispo County1,530 ft
  4. Monterey County1,440 ft
  5. Santa Cruz County880 ft
  6. Kings County380 ft

Rankings by average elevation

Peaks and hills highest inside

  • Junipero Serra Peak5,857 ft
  • Pinyon Peak5,250 ft
  • Chews Ridge5,082 ft
  • Palo Escrito Peak4,460 ft
  • Pico Blanco3,690 ft
All 30 towns in Monterey County by typical elevation
  1. Fort Hunter Liggett1,090 ft
  2. Lockwood, Monterey County980 ft
  3. Carmel Valley Village660 ft
  4. Bradley540 ft
  5. San Ardo440 ft
  6. Aromas440 ft
  7. San Lucas420 ft
  8. Pine Canyon410 ft
  9. King City320 ft
  10. Greenfield290 ft
  11. Prunedale290 ft
  12. Elkhorn260 ft
  13. Soledad210 ft
  14. Carmel-by-the-Sea200 ft
  15. Del Monte Forest190 ft
  16. Monterey170 ft
  17. Pacific Grove170 ft
  18. Gonzales140 ft
  19. Del Rey Oaks140 ft
  20. Seaside130 ft
  21. Chualar120 ft
  22. Las Lomas120 ft
  23. Salinas87 ft
  24. Marina77 ft
  25. Spreckels57 ft
  26. Boronda52 ft
  27. Pajaro29 ft
  28. Sand City25 ft
  29. Moss Landing22 ft
  30. Castroville18 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.
  • 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, −6 ft at 36.7626° N, 121.6876° W, is in such a hollow or patch and is not counted.
  • 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.