Sandia Heights, NM Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Sandia Heights, New Mexico, shaded from 6,020 ft on the southwest side to 6,500 ft at the foot of the Sandia Mountains
Elevation
6,500 ft 1,980 m6,380 ft 1,945 m6,320 ft 1,925 m6,200 ft 1,890 m6,080 ft 1,855 m6,020 ft 1,835 m
Contours every 100 ft, bold every 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.
Area
Fades everything outside the official CDP boundary (US Census).

Elevation Data

Sandia Heights sits at about 6,140 ft (1,870 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
6,140 ft 1,870 m
most residents: 6,090–6,280 ft
Lowest
6,020 ft 1,835 m
on the southwest side
Highest
6,500 ft 1,980 m
at the foot of the Sandia Mountains
Average
6,190 ft 1,885 m
all land inside the CDP boundary

Sandia Heights spans about 480 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
6,140 ft1,870 m
Highest point
Inside the CDP boundary, at the foot of the Sandia Mountains
6,500 ft1,980 m
Lowest point
Inside the CDP boundary, on the southwest side
6,020 ft1,835 m
Town center
USGS map point for Sandia Heights
6,130 ft1,870 m
Airport (ABQ)
FAA airport elevation, the highest point of its runways, 10 mi southwest of the CDP boundary
5,355 ft1,632 m
Average of all land6,190 ft1,885 m
Nearest peak
Sandia Crest, 2.3 mi northeast of the CDP boundary
10,670 ft3,255 m

Elevation profile, west to east

0.9 mi west to east through the town center.

Altitude Effects

What 6,140 ft means day to day, worked out from the typical elevation.

Water boils at
200.6 °F93.7 °C

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

Air pressure
80% of sea level

23.9 inHg (80.8 kPa): each breath holds 20% less air.

Oxygen equivalent
16.7% at sea level

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

Sunburn
+12% more UV

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

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Sandia Heights, New Mexico, shaded from 6,020 ft on the southwest side to 6,500 ft at the foot of the Sandia Mountains
CDP boundary (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 200 ft (61 m).
Location
Unincorporated community (census-designated place) in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States
Population
3,273 2020 Census
Land area
1.8 sq mi
Density
1,774 per sq mi
Coordinates
35.1770° N, 106.4914° 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 1
87122
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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. Sandia Park7,050 ft
  2. San Antonito6,980 ft
  3. Cedar Crest6,810 ft
  4. La Madera6,660 ft
  5. Sandia Heights6,140 ft
  6. Carnuel6,060 ft
  7. Pueblo of Sandia Village5,050 ft
  8. Corrales5,030 ft
  9. Edith Enclave5,010 ft
  10. North Valley5,000 ft
  11. Los Ranchos de Albuquerque4,990 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 CDP boundary, 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 CDP boundary (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.
  • Sandia Heights is an unincorporated community; figures cover the census-designated place, a statistical area.
  • Sources: USGS 3DEP, GNIS, Watershed Boundary Dataset and physiographic provinces; U.S. Census Bureau (boundaries, 2020 blocks, Gazetteer areas, ZIP code areas); FAA airport data; BTS time zones; NOAA NGS survey heights. All public domain.