Rensselaer County, NY Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Rensselaer County, New York, shaded from 0 ft on the southwest side to 2,800 ft on Berlin Mountain
Elevation
2,800 ft 855 m2,100 ft 640 m1,750 ft 535 m1,050 ft 320 m350 ft 105 m0 ft 0 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.
County area
Fades everything outside the official county boundary (US Census).

Elevation Data

Rensselaer County averages about 830 ft (250 m) above sea level across all its land. Its ground runs from 0 ft on the southwest side to 2,800 ft on Berlin Mountain.

Average elevation
830 ft 250 m
all land inside the county
Highest
2,800 ft 855 m
on Berlin Mountain
Lowest
0 ft 0 m
on the southwest side

Rensselaer County spans about 2,800 ft of height, so no single spot tells the whole story. The ruler shows where most of its land lies, and where the other numbers you'll see come from.

FigureElevation
Average of all land830 ft250 m
Highest point
Inside the county, on Berlin Mountain (3DEP terrain model; no NGS survey height)
2,800 ft855 m
Lowest point
Inside the county, on the southwest side
0 ft0 m

Elevation profile, west to east

22 mi west to east through Troy.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Rensselaer County, New York, shaded from 0 ft on the southwest side to 2,800 ft on Berlin Mountain
County boundary (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 200 ft (61 m).
Location
County in New York, United States
Population
160,749 2024 est.
Land area
652.5 sq mi + 12.9 sq mi water
Density
246 per sq mi
Time zone
Eastern UTC−5 / −4
Landform regions
Valley and Ridge 61%, New England 39%
Drains to
Atlantic Ocean
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Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, USGS

Nearby Places

Neighboring counties sharing a border, by average

  1. Bennington County, VT1,720 ft
  2. Berkshire County, MA1,410 ft
  3. Rensselaer County830 ft
  4. Albany County790 ft
  5. Saratoga County730 ft
  6. Columbia County630 ft
  7. Washington County600 ft

Rankings by average elevation

Peaks and hills highest inside

  • Berlin Mountain2,800 ft
  • Mount Raimer2,580 ft
  • White Rock, Rensselaer County2,540 ft
  • Bald Mountain, Rensselaer County2,480 ft
  • Smith Hill, Rensselaer County2,370 ft
All 27 towns in Rensselaer County by typical elevation
  1. Grafton1,470 ft
  2. Berlin1,270 ft
  3. Petersburgh1,100 ft
  4. Stephentown1,080 ft
  5. Averill Park770 ft
  6. East Nassau710 ft
  7. Sand Lake660 ft
  8. Nassau640 ft
  9. West Sand Lake590 ft
  10. Poestenkill580 ft
  11. Pittstown550 ft
  12. Hoosick530 ft
  13. Brunswick500 ft
  14. Hoosick Falls470 ft
  15. Nassau Lake430 ft
  16. Village of Nassau400 ft
  17. North Greenbush390 ft
  18. Wynantskill390 ft
  19. Valley Falls370 ft
  20. Schodack340 ft
  21. Schaghticoke340 ft
  22. Village of Schaghticoke330 ft
  23. East Greenbush270 ft
  24. Hampton Manor220 ft
  25. Troy170 ft
  26. Castleton-on-Hudson140 ft
  27. Rensselaer140 ft
How we measure
  • Average: every USGS 3DEP bare-earth cell of land inside the Census county boundary (TIGER/Line, Jan 1 2026), weighted equally, on a 1 arc-second (≈100 ft, 30 m) grid. Land means the boundary minus Census area water.
  • Highest and lowest: the highest land cell; it is a named summit, so its height is the peak method: the 3DEP top on a ~7 ft (2 m) window, or the NGS published height when a survey mark sits within 160 ft (50 m) of it. Lowest: the lowest land cell; coastal ground within 3 ft (1 m) of named tidal water counts as sea level.
  • 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 ft at 42.4982° N, 73.7779° W, is in such a hollow or patch and is not counted.
  • Nearby Places: neighboring counties and rankings use each one's average elevation, on its own grid, the same figure its page shows. Peaks and hills: the highest summits inside the county with at least 980 ft (300 m) of prominence, then the highest federal (GNIS) summits inside it 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).
  • Towns: each town's typical elevation (population-weighted median of its own 2020 blocks at 1 arc-second); a town is listed when any of its 2020 residents live in the county.
  • 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 (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 (TIGER boundaries and water, 2020 blocks, 2024 population estimates, county adjacency); NOAA NGS survey heights; BTS time zones. All public domain.