Missoula, MT Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Missoula, Montana, shaded from 3,080 ft on the northwest side to 5,170 ft at the foot of the South Hills
Elevation
5,170 ft 1,575 m4,650 ft 1,415 m4,380 ft 1,335 m3,860 ft 1,180 m3,340 ft 1,020 m3,080 ft 940 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.
City area
Fades everything outside the official city limits (US Census).

Elevation Data

Missoula sits at about 3,200 ft (975 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
3,200 ft 975 m
most residents: 3,170–3,450 ft
Lowest
3,080 ft 940 m
on the northwest side
Highest
5,170 ft 1,575 m
at the foot of the South Hills
Average
3,360 ft 1,025 m
all land inside city limits

Missoula spans about 2,090 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
3,200 ft975 m
Highest point
Inside city limits, at the foot of the South Hills
5,170 ft1,575 m
Lowest point
Inside city limits, on the northwest side
3,080 ft940 m
Town center
USGS map point for Missoula
3,210 ft980 m
Airport (MSO)
FAA airport elevation, the highest point of its runways
3,206 ft977 m
Average of all land3,360 ft1,025 m
Nearest peak
Bonner Mountain, 5.9 mi east of the city limits
6,790 ft2,070 m

Elevation profile, west to east

6.6 mi west to east through the town center.

Altitude Effects

What 3,200 ft means day to day, worked out from the typical elevation.

Water boils at
206.1 °F96.7 °C

vs 212 °F at sea level; USDA: food takes longer to cook.

Air pressure
89% of sea level

26.6 inHg (90.2 kPa): each breath holds 11% less air.

Oxygen equivalent
18.6% at sea level

Air is still 21% oxygen, just thinner. Normal at the coast: 20.9%.

Sunburn
+6% more UV

EPA: UV rises about 2% for every 1,000 ft.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Missoula, Montana, shaded from 3,080 ft on the northwest side to 5,170 ft at the foot of the South Hills
City limits (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 200 ft (61 m).
Location
City in Missoula County, Montana, United States
Population
78,204 2024 est.
Land area
35.1 sq mi + 0.2 sq mi water
Density
2,227 per sq mi
Coordinates
46.8721° N, 113.9940° W
Time zone
Mountain UTC−7 / −6
Landform region
Northern Rocky Mountains
Drains to
Clark Fork → Pend Oreille River → Columbia River → Pacific Ocean
Airport
Missoula Montana (MSO) 3,206 ft
ZIP codes 6
59801 59802 59803 59804 59808 59812
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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. Evaro3,880 ft
  2. Twin Creeks3,520 ft
  3. Turah3,500 ft
  4. Piltzville3,300 ft
  5. Bonner-West Riverside3,290 ft
  6. East Missoula3,270 ft
  7. Carlton3,260 ft
  8. Wye3,250 ft
  9. Missoula3,200 ft
  10. Lolo3,190 ft
  11. Orchard Homes3,140 ft

Rankings by typical elevation

Peaks and hills nearest, by height

  • Sheep Mountain, Missoula County7,649 ft
  • Mineral Peak7,440 ft
  • Miller Peak7,034 ft
  • Bonner Mountain6,790 ft
  • University Mountain5,810 ft
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).
  • Altitude effects: standard-atmosphere formulas applied to the typical elevation; UV from EPA's rule of thumb (about 2% per 1,000 ft).
  • 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; NOAA NGS survey heights. All public domain.