Nelson, NE Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Nelson, Nebraska, shaded from 1,660 ft on the east side to 1,780 ft on the northwest side
Elevation
1,780 ft 540 m1,750 ft 535 m1,730 ft 530 m1,710 ft 520 m1,680 ft 510 m1,660 ft 505 m
Contours every 40 ft, bold every 200 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

Nelson sits at about 1,700 ft (515 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
1,700 ft 515 m
most residents: 1,680–1,740 ft
Lowest
1,660 ft 505 m
on the east side
Highest
1,780 ft 540 m
on the northwest side
Average
1,710 ft 520 m
all land inside city limits

Nelson spans about 120 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
1,700 ft515 m
Highest point
Inside city limits, on the northwest side
1,780 ft540 m
Lowest point
Inside city limits, on the east side
1,660 ft505 m
Town center
USGS map point for Nelson
1,700 ft515 m
Average of all land1,710 ft520 m

Elevation profile, west to east

1.0 mi west to east through the town center.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Nelson, Nebraska, shaded from 1,660 ft on the east side to 1,780 ft on the northwest side
City limits (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 10 ft (3 m).
Location
City in Nuckolls County, Nebraska, United States
Population
458 2024 est.
Land area
0.8 sq mi
Density
561 per sq mi
Coordinates
40.2017° N, 98.0678° W
Time zone
Central UTC−6 / −5
Landform region
Great Plains
Drains to
Little Blue River → Big Blue River → Kansas River → Missouri River → Mississippi River → Gulf of America
ZIP codes 1
68961
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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

Nearby Places

Nearby towns by typical elevation

  1. Lawrence1,880 ft
  2. Nora1,760 ft
  3. Edgar1,720 ft
  4. Edgar Township1,720 ft
  5. Nelson1,700 ft
  6. Deweese1,690 ft
  7. Ruskin1,680 ft
  8. Montana Township, Jewell County, KS1,670 ft
  9. Superior1,600 ft
  10. Oak1,590 ft
  11. Hardy1,570 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).
  • Pits: the lowest point is the lowest ground outside closed hollows (quarry floors, mine pits, terrain-model artifacts): any hollow under 0.4 sq mi (1 km²), and any hollow under 2 sq mi (5 km²) whose floor is more than 100 ft (30 m) below its rim; and outside patches below sea level of under 0.4 sq mi (1 km²). The single lowest 3DEP cell, 1,660 ft at 40.1996° N, 98.0613° W, is in such a hollow or patch and is not counted.
  • 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); BTS time zones. All public domain.