Independence, IA Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Independence, Iowa, shaded from 880 ft on the south side to 990 ft on the north side
Elevation
990 ft 305 m970 ft 295 m950 ft 290 m920 ft 280 m900 ft 275 m880 ft 270 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.
City area
Fades everything outside the official city limits (US Census).

Elevation Data

Independence sits at about 920 ft (280 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
920 ft 280 m
most residents: 910–950 ft
Lowest
880 ft 270 m
on the south side
Highest
990 ft 305 m
on the north side
Average
940 ft 285 m
all land inside city limits

Independence spans about 110 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.

FigureElevation
Typical
Where people live: half of residents higher, half lower
920 ft280 m
Highest point
Inside city limits, on the north side
990 ft305 m
Lowest point
Inside city limits, on the south side
880 ft270 m
Town center
USGS map point for Independence
930 ft285 m
Airport (IIB)
FAA airport elevation, the highest point of its runways
979 ft298 m
Average of all land940 ft285 m

Elevation profile, south to north

2.9 mi south to north through the town center.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Independence, Iowa, shaded from 880 ft on the south side to 990 ft on the north side
City limits (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 10 ft (3 m).
Location
City in Buchanan County, Iowa, United States
Population
6,266 2024 est.
Land area
6.0 sq mi + 0.1 sq mi water
Density
1,039 per sq mi
Coordinates
42.4686° N, 91.8893° W
Time zone
Central UTC−6 / −5
Landform region
Central Lowland
Drains to
Wapsipinicon River → Mississippi River → Gulf of America
Airport
James H Connell Field at Independence Municipal (IIB) 979 ft
ZIP codes 1
50644
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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. Aurora1,130 ft
  2. Stanley1,110 ft
  3. Oelwein1,070 ft
  4. Winthrop1,060 ft
  5. Hazleton1,000 ft
  6. Rowley980 ft
  7. Jesup980 ft
  8. Independence920 ft
  9. Quasqueton890 ft
  10. Walker880 ft
  11. Brandon830 ft

Rankings by typical elevation

How we measure
  • Typical elevation: the population-weighted median: every 2020 Census block inside the city limits, 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 city limits (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.
  • Sources: USGS 3DEP, GNIS, Watershed Boundary Dataset and physiographic provinces; U.S. Census Bureau (boundaries, 2020 blocks, 2024 population estimates, Gazetteer areas, ZIP code areas); FAA airport data; BTS time zones. All public domain.