White Sands, NM Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of White Sands, New Mexico, shaded from 4,050 ft on the east side to 4,380 ft at the foot of the San Augustin Mountains
Elevation
4,380 ft 1,335 m4,300 ft 1,310 m4,260 ft 1,300 m4,180 ft 1,275 m4,090 ft 1,245 m4,050 ft 1,235 m
Contours every 100 ft, bold every 500 ft
USGS 3DEP · U.S. Census Bureau
⤓ Download this map
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

White Sands sits at about 4,350 ft (1,325 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
4,350 ft 1,325 m
most residents: 4,320–4,360 ft
Lowest
4,050 ft 1,235 m
on the east side
Highest
4,380 ft 1,335 m
at the foot of the San Augustin Mountains
Average
4,240 ft 1,290 m
all land inside the CDP boundary

White Sands spans about 330 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
4,350 ft1,325 m
Highest point
Inside the CDP boundary, at the foot of the San Augustin Mountains
4,380 ft1,335 m
Lowest point
Inside the CDP boundary, on the east side
4,050 ft1,235 m
Town center
USGS map point for White Sands
4,240 ft1,290 m
Average of all land4,240 ft1,290 m
Nearest peak
Organ Peak, 4.1 mi southwest of the CDP boundary
8,850 ft2,700 m

Elevation profile, west to east

2.9 mi west to east through the town center.

Altitude Effects

What 4,350 ft means day to day, worked out from the typical elevation.

Water boils at
203.9 °F95.5 °C

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

Air pressure
85% of sea level

25.5 inHg (86.4 kPa): each breath holds 15% less air.

Oxygen equivalent
17.9% at sea level

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

Sunburn
+9% more UV

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

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of White Sands, New Mexico, shaded from 4,050 ft on the east side to 4,380 ft at the foot of the San Augustin Mountains
CDP boundary (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 40 ft (12 m).
Location
Unincorporated community (census-designated place) in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, United States
Population
926 2020 Census
Land area
4.2 sq mi
Density
219 per sq mi
Coordinates
32.3809° N, 106.4794° W
Time zone
Mountain UTC−7 / −6
Landform region
Basin and Range
Drains to
Closed basin (does not reach the sea)
ZIP codes 1
88002
⤓ 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

  1. Organ5,050 ft
  2. Butterfield Park4,620 ft
  3. White Sands4,350 ft
  4. Las Cruces4,030 ft
  5. Doña Ana3,960 ft
  6. University Park3,950 ft
  7. San Ysidro3,910 ft
  8. Tortugas3,900 ft
  9. Mesilla3,890 ft
  10. San Pablo3,880 ft
  11. Mesquite3,840 ft

Rankings by typical elevation

Peaks and hills nearest, by height

  • Organ Peak8,850 ft
  • San Andres Peak8,244 ft
  • Big Brushy Mountain7,490 ft
  • Bennett Mountain7,200 ft
  • Doña Ana Peak5,822 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.
  • White Sands 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); BTS time zones; NOAA NGS survey heights. All public domain.