San Mateo County, CA Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of San Mateo County, California, shaded from sea level on the Pacific Ocean to 2,610 ft on the southeast side
Elevation
2,610 ft 795 m1,960 ft 595 m1,630 ft 495 m980 ft 300 m330 ft 100 m0 ft 0 m
Contours every 500 ft, bold every 2,500 ft
USGS 3DEP · U.S. Census Bureau
⤓ Download this map
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 Mateo County averages about 610 ft (185 m) above sea level across all its land. Its ground runs from sea level on the Pacific Ocean to 2,610 ft on the southeast side.

Average elevation
610 ft 185 m
all land inside the county
Highest
2,610 ft 795 m
on the southeast side
Lowest
0 ft 0 m
at sea level on the Pacific Ocean

San Mateo County spans about 2,610 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 land610 ft185 m
Highest point
Inside the county, on the southeast side
2,610 ft795 m
Lowest point
Where the land meets the Pacific Ocean
0 ft0 m

Elevation profile, south to north

45 mi south to north through San Mateo.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of San Mateo County, California, shaded from sea level on the Pacific Ocean to 2,610 ft on the southeast side
County boundary (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 200 ft (61 m).
Location
County in California, United States
Population
742,893 2024 est.
Land area
448.6 sq mi + 292.4 sq mi water
Density
1,656 per sq mi
Time zone
Pacific UTC−8 / −7
Landform region
Pacific Border 95%
Drains to
Pacific Ocean
⤓ Download this map

WebP, 1200 × 900. Free to use: credit “ElevationOf.com” with a link to this page.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, USGS

Nearby Places

Neighboring counties sharing a border, by average

  1. Santa Clara County1,250 ft
  2. Santa Cruz County880 ft
  3. Alameda County840 ft
  4. San Mateo County610 ft
  5. San Francisco County180 ft

Rankings by average elevation

Peaks and hills highest inside

  • Borel Hill2,570 ft
  • Morena Sierra2,423 ft
  • Mount Melville2,422 ft
  • Langley Hill2,260 ft
  • Scarpet Peak1,930 ft
All 33 towns in San Mateo County by typical elevation
  1. Portola Valley630 ft
  2. La Honda600 ft
  3. Highlands510 ft
  4. Emerald Lake Hills470 ft
  5. Woodside450 ft
  6. Baywood Park430 ft
  7. Daly City360 ft
  8. Ladera350 ft
  9. Hillsborough300 ft
  10. Pacifica280 ft
  11. Belmont270 ft
  12. Brisbane210 ft
  13. Broadmoor200 ft
  14. Loma Mar200 ft
  15. Montara190 ft
  16. Colma190 ft
  17. San Bruno140 ft
  18. West Menlo Park130 ft
  19. South San Francisco130 ft
  20. San Carlos120 ft
  21. Pescadero100 ft
  22. Millbrae96 ft
  23. El Granada92 ft
  24. Half Moon Bay71 ft
  25. Moss Beach69 ft
  26. Atherton61 ft
  27. Menlo Park60 ft
  28. Burlingame37 ft
  29. North Fair Oaks28 ft
  30. Redwood City23 ft
  31. San Mateo20 ft
  32. East Palo Alto16 ft
  33. Foster City7 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 1 arc-second (≈100 ft, 30 m) grid. Land means the boundary minus Census area water.
  • Highest and lowest: the highest land cell. Lowest: the lowest land cell; 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, −15 ft at 37.4799° N, 122.2257° 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.