Albuquerque, NM Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Albuquerque, New Mexico, shaded from 4,910 ft on the southwest side to 6,890 ft at the foot of the Sandia Mountains
Elevation
6,890 ft 2,100 m6,400 ft 1,950 m6,150 ft 1,875 m5,660 ft 1,725 m5,160 ft 1,575 m4,910 ft 1,500 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

Albuquerque sits at about 5,260 ft (1,605 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
5,260 ft 1,605 m
most residents: 5,000–5,670 ft
Lowest
4,910 ft 1,500 m
on the southwest side
Highest
6,890 ft 2,100 m
at the foot of the Sandia Mountains
Average
5,370 ft 1,635 m
all land inside city limits

Albuquerque spans about 1,980 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
5,260 ft1,605 m
Highest point
Inside city limits, at the foot of the Sandia Mountains
6,890 ft2,100 m
Lowest point
Inside city limits, on the southwest side
4,910 ft1,500 m
Town center
USGS map point for Albuquerque
4,950 ft1,510 m
Airport (ABQ)
FAA airport elevation, the highest point of its runways
5,355 ft1,632 m
Average of all land5,370 ft1,635 m
Nearest peak
Sandia Crest, 3.7 mi northeast of the city limits
10,670 ft3,255 m

Elevation profile, west to east

16 mi west to east through the town center.

Altitude Effects

What 5,260 ft means day to day, worked out from the typical elevation.

Water boils at
202.2 °F94.6 °C

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

Air pressure
82% of sea level

24.7 inHg (83.5 kPa): each breath holds 18% less air.

Oxygen equivalent
17.3% at sea level

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

Sunburn
+11% more UV

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

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Albuquerque, New Mexico, shaded from 4,910 ft on the southwest side to 6,890 ft at the foot of the Sandia Mountains
City limits (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 500 ft (152 m).
Location
City in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States
Population
560,326 2024 est.
Land area
187.4 sq mi + 1.5 sq mi water
Density
2,990 per sq mi
Coordinates
35.0845° N, 106.6511° W
Time zone
Mountain UTC−7 / −6
Landform region
Basin and Range
Drains to
Rio Grande → Gulf of America
Airport
Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ) 5,355 ft
ZIP codes 17
87101 87102 87104 87105 87106 87107 87108 87109 87110 87111 87112 87113 87114 87120 87121 87122 87123
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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. Carnuel6,060 ft
  2. Kirtland AFB5,410 ft
  3. Rio Rancho5,390 ft
  4. Pajarito Mesa5,370 ft
  5. Paradise Hills5,330 ft
  6. Albuquerque5,260 ft
  7. Corrales5,030 ft
  8. Edith Enclave5,010 ft
  9. North Valley5,000 ft
  10. Los Ranchos de Albuquerque4,990 ft
  11. South Valley4,940 ft

Rankings by typical elevation

Peaks and hills nearest, by height

  • Sandia Crest10,670 ft
  • Bosque Peak9,620 ft
  • Placer Mountain8,900 ft
  • South Mountain8,750 ft
  • Mesa Prieta7,529 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).
  • Pits: the lowest point is the lowest ground outside closed hollows of under 0.4 sq mi (1 km²) (quarry floors, mine pits, terrain-model artifacts) and outside patches below sea level of under 0.4 sq mi (1 km²). The single lowest 3DEP cell, 4,910 ft at 35.0010° N, 106.7138° 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).
  • 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.