North Dakota Elevation & Topographic Map

Elevation

3,500 ft 1,065 m2,810 ft 860 m2,470 ft 755 m1,780 ft 545 m1,100 ft 335 m750 ft 230 m

Zoom in for contour lines

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.
State area: Fades everything outside the official state boundary (US Census).

Elevation Data

North Dakota averages about 1,830 ft (560 m) above sea level across all its land. Its ground runs from 750 ft on the northeast side to 3,500 ft on White Butte.

Average elevation

1,830 ft 560 m

all land in North Dakota

Highest

3,500 ft 1,065 m

on White Butte

Lowest

750 ft 230 m

on the northeast side

North Dakota spans about 2,750 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.

Figure	Elevation
Average of all land	1,830 ft560 m
Highest point In North Dakota, on White Butte (3DEP terrain model; no NGS survey height)	3,500 ft1,065 m
Lowest point In North Dakota, on the northeast side	750 ft230 m

Elevation profile, west to east

343 mi west to east through Fargo.

Topographic Map

Location: State in the West North Central division of the Midwest region, United States
Population: 796,568 2024 est.
Land area: 68,994.3 sq mi + 1,704.5 sq mi water
Density: 12 per sq mi
Counties: 53
Time zones: Central UTC−6 / −5, Mountain UTC−7 / −6
Landform regions: Great Plains 53%, Central Lowland 47%
Drains to: Gulf of America 52%, Canada 29%

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Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, USGS

Nearby Places

Neighboring states sharing a border, by average

Montana4,150 ft
South Dakota2,200 ft
North Dakota1,830 ft
Minnesota1,220 ft

Rankings by average elevation

States in the United States16th highest of 52

Peaks and hills highest inside

White Butte, Slope County3,500 ft
Black Butte, Slope County3,470 ft
Sentinel Butte3,432 ft
Camel Butte3,414 ft
Boundary Butte2,520 ft

All 53 counties by average elevation

Bowman County2,940 ft
Slope County2,830 ft
Golden Valley County2,680 ft
Adams County2,630 ft
Billings County2,570 ft
Hettinger County2,550 ft
Stark County2,490 ft
Dunn County2,260 ft
McKenzie County2,250 ft
Grant County2,220 ft
Williams County2,210 ft
Mountrail County2,190 ft
Divide County2,150 ft
Burke County2,110 ft
McIntosh County2,050 ft
Oliver County2,050 ft
Morton County2,030 ft
Sioux County2,020 ft
Mercer County2,020 ft
Logan County2,000 ft
McLean County1,970 ft
Ward County1,940 ft
Burleigh County1,890 ft
Emmons County1,890 ft
Sheridan County1,860 ft
Kidder County1,860 ft
Rolette County1,790 ft
Renville County1,730 ft
Wells County1,690 ft
Stutsman County1,670 ft
Bottineau County1,580 ft
Pierce County1,570 ft
Towner County1,560 ft
Benson County1,560 ft
Cavalier County1,560 ft
LaMoure County1,540 ft
McHenry County1,540 ft
Foster County1,540 ft
Dickey County1,530 ft
Eddy County1,520 ft
Nelson County1,500 ft
Ramsey County1,500 ft
Griggs County1,450 ft
Barnes County1,390 ft
Steele County1,270 ft
Sargent County1,250 ft
Ransom County1,200 ft
Walsh County1,120 ft
Richland County1,030 ft
Grand Forks County1,020 ft
Cass County1,010 ft
Traill County950 ft
Pembina County890 ft

All 3 tribal lands by average elevation

How we measure

Average: every USGS 3DEP bare-earth cell of land inside the Census state boundary (TIGER/Line, Jan 1 2026), weighted equally, on a 7 arc-second (≈710 ft, 216 m) grid, coarsened from 1 arc-second so the whole area fits one run. Land means the boundary minus Census area water (on this grid, water areas of at least half a cell).
Highest and lowest: the highest land cell, re-read at 1 arc-second around the 25 highest grid cells; 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, re-read at 1 arc-second around the 25 lowest grid cells; coastal ground within 3 ft (1 m) of named tidal water counts as sea level.
Nearby Places: neighboring states 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 state 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).
Counties: each one's average on its own grid (1 arc-second, coarser for the largest), the same figure its own page shows.
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.