Thermal, CA Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Thermal, California, shaded from −170 ft on the south side to −41 ft at the foot of the Mecca Hills
Elevation
−41 ft −13 m−74 ft −22 m−90 ft −27 m−120 ft −35 m−150 ft −45 m−170 ft −50 m
Contours every 100 ft, bold every 500 ft
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.
Area
Fades everything outside the official CDP boundary (US Census).

Elevation Data

Thermal sits about 120 ft (40 m) below sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
−120 ft −40 m
most residents: −150–−120 ft
Lowest
−170 ft −50 m
on the south side
Highest
−41 ft −13 m
at the foot of the Mecca Hills
Average
−130 ft −40 m
all land inside the CDP boundary

Thermal spans about 129 ft of height, so no single spot tells the whole story. The ruler shows where its people live, and where the other numbers you'll see come from.

About 100% of residents live below sea level.

FigureElevation
Typical
Where people live: half of residents higher, half lower
−120 ft−40 m
Highest point
Inside the CDP boundary, at the foot of the Mecca Hills
−41 ft−13 m
Lowest point
Inside the CDP boundary, on the south side
−170 ft−50 m
Town center
USGS map point for Thermal
−120 ft−35 m
Airport (TRM)
FAA airport elevation, the highest point of its runways, 0.3 mi southwest of the CDP boundary
−114 ft−35 m
Average of all land−130 ft−40 m

Elevation profile, west to east

3.2 mi west to east through the town center.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Thermal, California, shaded from −170 ft on the south side to −41 ft at the foot of the Mecca Hills
CDP boundary (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 40 ft (12 m).
Location
Unincorporated community (census-designated place) in Riverside County, California, United States
Population
2,676 2020 Census
Land area
9.4 sq mi
Density
285 per sq mi
Coordinates
33.6403° N, 116.1394° W
Time zone
Pacific UTC−8 / −7
Landform region
Basin and Range
Drains to
Salton Sea basin (does not reach the sea)
Airport
Jacqueline Cochran Regional (TRM) −114 ft
ZIP codes 1
92274
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WebP, 1200 × 900. Free to use: credit “ElevationOf.com” with a link to this page.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, USGS, FAA

Nearby Places

Nearby towns by typical elevation

  1. Indian Wells170 ft
  2. Desert Palms110 ft
  3. Bermuda Dunes89 ft
  4. La Quinta67 ft
  5. Indio10 ft
  6. Coachella−63 ft
  7. Vista Santa Rosa−63 ft
  8. North Shore−85 ft
  9. Thermal−120 ft
  10. Mecca−170 ft
  11. Oasis−180 ft

Rankings by typical elevation

Peaks and hills nearest, by height

  • Toro Peak8,690 ft
  • Rabbit Peak6,650 ft
  • Martinez Mountain6,570 ft
  • Asbestos Mountain5,250 ft
  • Coyote Mountain3,194 ft
How we measure
  • Typical elevation: the population-weighted median: every 2020 Census block inside the CDP boundary, at its USGS 3DEP height, weighted by the people who live there. Half of residents live higher, half lower.
  • Lowest, highest, average: USGS 3DEP bare-earth heights on a 1 arc-second (≈100 ft, 30 m) grid, land only, inside the Census CDP boundary (TIGER, Jan 1 2026).
  • Nearby Places: nearby towns and rankings use each town's typical elevation, so every town is compared like for like. Rankings count every city, town, township and census-designated place, including places inside a town. Peaks and hills: the nearest summits with at least 980 ft (300 m) of prominence within 62 mi (100 km), then federal (GNIS) summits within 16 mi (25 km) 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).
  • 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 (FAA airport elevation, 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.
  • Thermal is an unincorporated community; figures cover the census-designated place, a statistical area.
  • Sources: USGS 3DEP, GNIS, Watershed Boundary Dataset and physiographic provinces; U.S. Census Bureau (boundaries, 2020 blocks, Gazetteer areas, ZIP code areas); FAA airport data; BTS time zones; NOAA NGS survey heights. All public domain.