Illinois Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Illinois, shaded from 290 ft on the south side to 1,230 ft on Charles Mound
Elevation
1,230 ft 375 m1,000 ft 305 m880 ft 270 m650 ft 195 m410 ft 125 m290 ft 90 m
Zoom in for contour lines
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.
State area
Fades everything outside the official state boundary (US Census).

Elevation Data

Illinois averages about 630 ft (190 m) above sea level across all its land. Its ground runs from 290 ft on the south side to 1,230 ft on Charles Mound.

Average elevation
630 ft 190 m
all land in Illinois
Highest
1,230 ft 375 m
on Charles Mound
Lowest
290 ft 90 m
on the south side

Illinois spans about 940 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 land630 ft190 m
Highest point
In Illinois, on Charles Mound (3DEP terrain model; no NGS survey height)
1,230 ft375 m
Lowest point
In Illinois, on the south side
290 ft90 m

Elevation profile, west to east

154 mi west to east through Chicago.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Illinois, shaded from 290 ft on the south side to 1,230 ft on Charles Mound
State boundary (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 100 ft (30 m).
Location
State in the East North Central division of the Midwest region, United States
Population
12,710,158 2024 est.
Land area
55,513.5 sq mi + 2,399.8 sq mi water
Density
229 per sq mi
Counties
102
Time zone
Central UTC−6 / −5
Landform region
Central Lowland 96%
Drains to
Gulf of America
⤓ 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 states sharing a border, by average

  1. Wisconsin1,080 ft
  2. Iowa1,070 ft
  3. Michigan900 ft
  4. Missouri850 ft
  5. Kentucky830 ft
  6. Indiana740 ft
  7. Illinois630 ft

Rankings by average elevation

  • States in the United States38th highest of 52

Peaks and hills highest inside

  • Charles Mound1,230 ft
  • Benton Mound1,230 ft
  • Mound Sumner1,180 ft
  • Hudson Mound1,170 ft
  • Squirrel Grove Mound1,170 ft
All 102 counties by average elevation
  1. McHenry County870 ft
  2. Stephenson County870 ft
  3. Boone County860 ft
  4. Jo Daviess County840 ft
  5. DeKalb County830 ft
  6. Ogle County810 ft
  7. Kane County810 ft
  8. Winnebago County800 ft
  9. Lee County790 ft
  10. Carroll County780 ft
  11. McLean County770 ft
  12. Ford County750 ft
  13. Lake County740 ft
  14. DuPage County730 ft
  15. De Witt County720 ft
  16. Stark County720 ft
  17. Knox County720 ft
  18. Warren County720 ft
  19. Woodford County720 ft
  20. Henry County710 ft
  21. Champaign County710 ft
  22. Bureau County700 ft
  23. Piatt County700 ft
  24. Livingston County680 ft
  25. Mercer County680 ft
  26. Vermilion County680 ft
  27. Coles County680 ft
  28. Rock Island County670 ft
  29. Macon County670 ft
  30. Marshall County670 ft
  31. Moultrie County670 ft
  32. Iroquois County670 ft
  33. McDonough County670 ft
  34. Edgar County670 ft
  35. Will County660 ft
  36. Cook County660 ft
  37. Douglas County660 ft
  38. Adams County660 ft
  39. Whiteside County660 ft
  40. LaSalle County660 ft
  41. Peoria County650 ft
  42. Kendall County650 ft
  43. Kankakee County650 ft
  44. Henderson County650 ft
  45. Hancock County640 ft
  46. Shelby County640 ft
  47. Montgomery County640 ft
  48. Brown County630 ft
  49. Macoupin County630 ft
  50. Tazewell County620 ft
  51. Christian County620 ft
  52. Morgan County620 ft
  53. Putnam County610 ft
  54. Cumberland County610 ft
  55. Pike County600 ft
  56. Fulton County600 ft
  57. Sangamon County600 ft
  58. Logan County600 ft
  59. Grundy County590 ft
  60. Clark County590 ft
  61. Schuyler County590 ft
  62. Jersey County580 ft
  63. Effingham County580 ft
  64. Menard County580 ft
  65. Calhoun County570 ft
  66. Fayette County550 ft
  67. Greene County540 ft
  68. Cass County540 ft
  69. Scott County540 ft
  70. Bond County540 ft
  71. Marion County530 ft
  72. Jasper County530 ft
  73. Monroe County520 ft
  74. Madison County520 ft
  75. Pope County510 ft
  76. Mason County510 ft
  77. Union County500 ft
  78. Crawford County500 ft
  79. Johnson County500 ft
  80. Jefferson County490 ft
  81. Clay County490 ft
  82. Washington County480 ft
  83. Hardin County480 ft
  84. Richland County480 ft
  85. St. Clair County470 ft
  86. Randolph County470 ft
  87. Williamson County470 ft
  88. Perry County460 ft
  89. Jackson County460 ft
  90. Clinton County450 ft
  91. Lawrence County450 ft
  92. Edwards County440 ft
  93. Hamilton County440 ft
  94. Franklin County440 ft
  95. Wayne County440 ft
  96. Wabash County430 ft
  97. Saline County420 ft
  98. White County400 ft
  99. Alexander County390 ft
  100. Massac County390 ft
  101. Gallatin County390 ft
  102. Pulaski County360 ft
How we measure
  • Average: every USGS 3DEP bare-earth cell of land inside the Census state boundary (TIGER/Line, Jan 1 2026), weighted equally, on a 7 arc-second (≈710 ft, 216 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 states 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 state 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).
  • Counties: each one's average on its own grid (1 arc-second, coarser for the largest), the same figure its own page shows.
  • 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.