Marion, NC Elevation & Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Marion, North Carolina, shaded from 1,170 ft on the east side to 1,950 ft at the foot of the Habersham Mountains
Elevation
1,950 ft 595 m1,760 ft 535 m1,660 ft 505 m1,460 ft 445 m1,270 ft 385 m1,170 ft 360 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.
City area
Fades everything outside the official city limits (US Census).

Elevation Data

Marion sits at about 1,410 ft (430 m) above sea level, worked out from 2020 Census block heights on USGS 3DEP, weighted by residents.

Typical elevation
1,410 ft 430 m
most residents: 1,310–1,480 ft
Lowest
1,170 ft 360 m
on the east side
Highest
1,950 ft 595 m
at the foot of the Habersham Mountains
Average
1,390 ft 425 m
all land inside city limits

Marion spans about 780 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
1,410 ft430 m
Highest point
Inside city limits, at the foot of the Habersham Mountains
1,950 ft595 m
Lowest point
Inside city limits, on the east side
1,170 ft360 m
Town center
USGS map point for Marion
1,430 ft435 m
Average of all land1,390 ft425 m
Nearest peak
Dobson Knob, 6.6 mi north of the city limits (NGS survey)
3,705 ft1,129 m

Elevation profile, west to east

3.4 mi west to east through the town center.

Topographic Map

Topographic elevation map of Marion, North Carolina, shaded from 1,170 ft on the east side to 1,950 ft at the foot of the Habersham Mountains
City limits (dashed) over shaded terrain, with contours every 100 ft (30 m).
Location
City in McDowell County, North Carolina, United States
Population
7,534 2024 est.
Land area
6.9 sq mi
Density
1,100 per sq mi
Coordinates
35.6840° N, 82.0093° W
Time zone
Eastern UTC−5 / −4
Landform region
Piedmont
Drains to
Catawba River → Wateree River → Santee River → Atlantic Ocean
ZIP codes 1
28752
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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

Nearby Places

Nearby towns by typical elevation

  1. Montreat2,740 ft
  2. Spruce Pine2,660 ft
  3. Black Mountain2,410 ft
  4. Old Fort1,470 ft
  5. West Marion1,430 ft
  6. Marion1,410 ft
  7. Glenwood1,340 ft
  8. Nebo1,280 ft
  9. Glen Alpine1,180 ft
  10. Salem1,180 ft
  11. Morganton1,140 ft

Rankings by typical elevation

Peaks and hills nearest, by height

  • Mount Mitchell6,682 ft
  • Dobson Knob3,705 ft
  • Hickorynut Mountain3,220 ft
  • Icy Knob2,980 ft
  • Youngs Mountain2,712 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); BTS time zones; NOAA NGS survey heights. All public domain.