Des Moines, NM Elevation & Topographic Map
Elevation
6,730 ft 2,050 m6,690 ft 2,040 m6,670 ft 2,035 m6,640 ft 2,025 m6,600 ft 2,010 m6,580 ft 2,005 m
Contours every 40 ft, bold every 200 ft
USGS 3DEP · U.S. Census Bureau
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.
- Village area
- Fades everything outside the official village limits (US Census).
Elevation Data
Des Moines sits at about 6,650 ft (2,025 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.
Typical elevation
6,650 ft 2,025 m
most residents: 6,610–6,670 ft
Lowest
6,580 ft 2,005 m
on the northeast side
Highest
6,730 ft 2,050 m
on the southwest edge, below higher ground just outside
Average
6,630 ft 2,020 m
all land inside village limits
Des Moines spans about 150 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.
| Figure | Elevation |
|---|---|
| Typical Where people live: half of residents higher, half lower | 6,650 ft2,025 m |
| Highest point Inside village limits, on the southwest edge, below higher ground just outside | 6,730 ft2,050 m |
| Lowest point Inside village limits, on the northeast side | 6,580 ft2,005 m |
| Town center USGS map point for Des Moines | 6,650 ft2,025 m |
| Average of all land | 6,630 ft2,020 m |
| Nearest peak Sierra Grande, 4.0 mi southwest of the village limits (NGS survey) | 8,724 ft2,659 m |
Elevation profile, south to north
0.9 mi south to north through the town center.
Altitude Effects
What 6,650 ft means day to day, worked out from the typical elevation.
Water boils at
199.6 °F93.1 °C
vs 212 °F at sea level; USDA: food takes longer to cook.
Air pressure
78% of sea level
23.4 inHg (79.2 kPa): each breath holds 22% less air.
Oxygen equivalent
16.4% at sea level
Air is still 21% oxygen, just thinner. Normal at the coast: 20.9%.
Sunburn
+13% more UV
EPA: UV rises about 2% for every 1,000 ft.
Topographic Map
- Location
- Village in Union County, New Mexico, United States
- Population
- 111 2024 est.
- Land area
- 0.9 sq mi
- Density
- 128 per sq mi
- Coordinates
- 36.7611° N, 103.8341° W
- Time zone
- Mountain UTC−7 / −6
- Landform region
- Great Plains
- Drains to
- Corrumpa Creek → Beaver River → North Canadian River → Arkansas River → Mississippi River → Gulf of America
- ZIP codes 1
- 88418
⤓ Download this map
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
Rankings by typical elevation
- Towns in New Mexico149th highest of 528
- Towns in Union County2nd highest of 5
Peaks and hills nearest, by height
- Laughlin Peak8,824 ft
- Sierra Grande8,724 ft
- Carr Mountain6,910 ft
- Purvine Hills6,850 ft
- Dunchee Hill6,750 ft
How we measure
- Typical elevation: the population-weighted median: every 2020 Census block inside the village 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 village 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); BTS time zones; NOAA NGS survey heights. All public domain.