Asheville, NC Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Asheville, North Carolina, shaded from 1,940 ft on the northwest side to 3,150 ft at the foot of the Elk Mountains
Elevation
3,150 ft 960 m2,850 ft 870 m2,700 ft 825 m2,400 ft 730 m2,100 ft 640 m1,940 ft 595 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

Asheville sits at about 2,160 ft (660 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
2,160 ft 660 m
most residents: 2,080–2,300 ft
Lowest
1,940 ft 595 m
on the northwest side
Highest
3,150 ft 960 m
at the foot of the Elk Mountains
Average
2,180 ft 665 m
all land inside city limits

Asheville spans about 1,210 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
2,160 ft660 m
Highest point
Inside city limits, at the foot of the Elk Mountains
3,150 ft960 m
Lowest point
Inside city limits, on the northwest side
1,940 ft595 m
Town center
USGS map point for Asheville
2,130 ft650 m
Airport (AVL)
FAA airport elevation, the highest point of its runways
2,164 ft660 m
Average of all land2,180 ft665 m
Nearest peak
Flat Top, 4.5 mi east of the city limits
4,370 ft1,330 m

Elevation profile, west to east

7.2 mi west to east through the town center.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Asheville, North Carolina, shaded from 1,940 ft on the northwest side to 3,150 ft at the foot of the Elk Mountains
City limits (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 200 ft (61 m).
Location
City in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States
Population
94,992 2024 est.
Land area
45.5 sq mi + 0.4 sq mi water
Density
2,089 per sq mi
Coordinates
35.6009° N, 82.5540° W
Time zone
Eastern UTC−5 / −4
Landform region
Blue Ridge
Drains to
French Broad River → Tennessee River → Ohio River → Mississippi River → Gulf of America
Airport
Asheville Regional (AVL) 2,164 ft
ZIP codes 8
28704 28715 28732 28801 28803 28804 28805 28806
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Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, USGS, FAA

Nearby Places

Nearby towns by typical elevation

  1. Fairview, Buncombe County2,370 ft
  2. Royal Pines2,340 ft
  3. Swannanoa2,300 ft
  4. Avery Creek2,230 ft
  5. Biltmore Forest2,200 ft
  6. Bent Creek2,190 ft
  7. Weaverville2,160 ft
  8. Asheville2,160 ft
  9. Fletcher2,140 ft
  10. Woodfin2,140 ft
  11. Emma2,130 ft

Rankings by typical elevation

Peaks and hills nearest, by height

  • Mount Pisgah5,700 ft
  • Little Pisgah Mountain4,410 ft
  • Flat Top4,370 ft
  • Bearwallow Mountain4,230 ft
  • Sugarloaf Mountain3,962 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).
  • 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).
  • 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.