San Diego County, CA Elevation & Topographic Map

Elevation

6,500 ft 1,985 m4,880 ft 1,485 m4,070 ft 1,240 m2,440 ft 745 m810 ft 250 m0 ft 0 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

San Diego County averages about 1,970 ft (600 m) above sea level across all its land. Its ground runs from sea level on San Diego Bay to 6,500 ft on Hot Springs Mountain.

Average elevation

1,970 ft 600 m

all land inside the county

Highest

6,500 ft 1,985 m

on Hot Springs Mountain

Lowest

0 ft 0 m

at sea level on San Diego Bay

San Diego County spans about 6,500 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	1,970 ft600 m
Highest point Inside the county, on Hot Springs Mountain (3DEP terrain model; no NGS survey height)	6,500 ft1,985 m
Lowest point Where the land meets San Diego Bay	0 ft0 m

Elevation profile, west to east

71 mi west to east through San Diego.

Topographic Map

Location: County in California, United States
Population: 3,298,799 2024 est.
Land area: 4,210.9 sq mi + 315.0 sq mi water
Density: 783 per sq mi
Time zone: Pacific UTC−8 / −7
Landform regions: Lower Californian 69%, Pacific Border 22%
Drains to: Pacific Ocean 67%, Salton Sea basin (does not reach the sea) 33%

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Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, USGS

Nearby Places

Neighboring counties sharing a border, by average

San Diego County1,970 ft
Riverside County1,860 ft
Orange County700 ft
Imperial County410 ft

Rankings by average elevation

Counties in California28th highest of 57
Counties in the United States631st highest of 3,151

Peaks and hills highest inside

Cuyamaca Peak6,508 ft
Hot Springs Mountain6,500 ft
Bucksnort Mountain6,180 ft
High Point6,143 ft
North Peak5,980 ft

All 57 towns in San Diego County by typical elevation

Mount Laguna5,940 ft
Julian4,230 ft
Pine Valley3,770 ft
Descanso3,770 ft
Boulevard3,710 ft
Campo2,900 ft
Jacumba2,800 ft
Potrero2,350 ft
Alpine1,910 ft
San Diego Country Estates1,590 ft
Crest1,540 ft
Valley Center1,520 ft
Ramona1,440 ft
Hidden Meadows1,420 ft
Harbison Canyon1,210 ft
Rainbow1,200 ft
Jamul1,000 ft
Fallbrook720 ft
Escondido690 ft
Granite Hills650 ft
San Marcos650 ft
Casa de Oro-Mount Helix640 ft
Harmony Grove620 ft
Winter Gardens620 ft
Borrego Springs620 ft
Eucalyptus Hills600 ft
Poway590 ft
Lakeside590 ft
Elfin Forest580 ft
Lake San Marcos570 ft
Rancho San Diego560 ft
La Mesa550 ft
Spring Valley490 ft
El Cajon480 ft
Bostonia470 ft
Lemon Grove430 ft
Bonsall420 ft
Vista420 ft
Pala420 ft
Del Dios390 ft
Santee390 ft
La Presa340 ft
San Diego320 ft
Chula Vista320 ft
Camp Pendleton Mainside290 ft
Encinitas220 ft
Rancho Santa Fe220 ft
Bonita200 ft
Carlsbad180 ft
Fairbanks Ranch180 ft
Del Mar160 ft
Oceanside150 ft
Camp Pendleton South130 ft
Solana Beach120 ft
National City85 ft
Imperial Beach23 ft
Coronado16 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, −17 ft at 32.6882° N, 117.1371° 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 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.