Dakota County, MN Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Dakota County, Minnesota, shaded from 600 ft on the northwest side to 1,200 ft on Buck Hill
Elevation
1,200 ft 365 m1,050 ft 320 m980 ft 300 m830 ft 250 m680 ft 205 m600 ft 185 m
Contours every 500 ft, bold every 2,500 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.
County area
Fades everything outside the official county boundary (US Census).

Elevation Data

Dakota County averages about 920 ft (280 m) above sea level across all its land. Its ground runs from 600 ft on the northwest side to 1,200 ft on Buck Hill.

Average elevation
920 ft 280 m
all land inside the county
Highest
1,200 ft 365 m
on Buck Hill
Lowest
600 ft 185 m
on the northwest side

Dakota County spans about 600 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 land920 ft280 m
Highest point
Inside the county, on Buck Hill (3DEP terrain model; no NGS survey height)
1,200 ft365 m
Lowest point
Inside the county, on the northwest side
600 ft185 m

Elevation profile, south to north

24 mi south to north through Lakeville.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Dakota County, Minnesota, shaded from 600 ft on the northwest side to 1,200 ft on Buck Hill
County boundary (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 40 ft (12 m).
Location
County in Minnesota, United States
Population
453,156 2024 est.
Land area
562.6 sq mi + 24.3 sq mi water
Density
806 per sq mi
Time zone
Central UTC−6 / −5
Landform region
Central Lowland
Drains to
Gulf of America
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Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, USGS

Nearby Places

Neighboring counties sharing a border, by average

  1. Rice County1,080 ft
  2. Goodhue County1,060 ft
  3. Pierce County, WI1,030 ft
  4. Scott County940 ft
  5. Washington County930 ft
  6. Dakota County920 ft
  7. Hennepin County920 ft
  8. Ramsey County910 ft

Rankings by average elevation

Peaks and hills highest inside

  • Buck Hill1,200 ft
  • Pilot Knob950 ft
All 35 towns in Dakota County by typical elevation
  1. Lakeville1,000 ft
  2. Eureka Township990 ft
  3. West St. Paul990 ft
  4. New Trier990 ft
  5. Hampton990 ft
  6. Greenvale Township970 ft
  7. Sunfish Lake970 ft
  8. Hampton Township970 ft
  9. Northfield partly960 ft
  10. Apple Valley960 ft
  11. Rosemount960 ft
  12. Burnsville950 ft
  13. Castle Rock Township940 ft
  14. Miesville940 ft
  15. Waterford Township930 ft
  16. Douglas Township930 ft
  17. Coates920 ft
  18. Farmington910 ft
  19. Sciota Township910 ft
  20. Empire910 ft
  21. Inver Grove Heights900 ft
  22. Eagan900 ft
  23. Mendota Heights890 ft
  24. Randolph890 ft
  25. Vermillion Township880 ft
  26. Randolph Township870 ft
  27. Cannon Falls partly850 ft
  28. Vermillion840 ft
  29. Nininger Township840 ft
  30. Marshan Township830 ft
  31. South St. Paul830 ft
  32. Ravenna Township830 ft
  33. Hastings820 ft
  34. Lilydale800 ft
  35. Mendota780 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; 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; coastal ground within 3 ft (1 m) of named tidal water counts as sea level.
  • 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.