Elevation of El Cajon
435ft
above sea level · 133 m
El Cajon is a city in California with 101,755 people, the 75th most populous in the state. Of the 249 US cities with 100,000 to 250,000 people, it’s the 123rd lowest.
By the Mapsfera Team
Loading the map…
Place facts
- Coordinates
- 32.79° N · 116.96° W
- In degrees, minutes and seconds: 32° 47′ 41″ N · 116° 57′ 45″ W
- UTM coordinates
- 11S · 503,509 E · 3,628,536 N
- Zone 11 · NAD83, the official US datum
- Time zone
- Pacific Time
- UTC−8 · UTC−7 in summer (daylight saving time)
- Population (2025)
- 101,755 people
- 14.5 sq mi of land · 7,013 people/sq mi
- Elevation model
- USGS 3DEP, 1 m grid
- Lidar from December 2023: the ground height at the city’s reference point.
Population
El Cajon had 101,755 residents on July 1, 2025, according to Census Bureau estimates, 4.2% fewer than in April 2020, when it had 106,180. Its 14.5 sq mi of land work out to 7,013 people/sq mi; the state average is 253 people/sq mi.
It’s the 75th most populous of the 1,617 places the Census counts in California (cities, towns and CDPs), after Los Angeles (3,869,089), and holds 0.3% of the state’s population.
It lies entirely within San Diego County. Its reference point in the USGS gazetteer is 0.5 mi from the geographic center the Census gives for the city.
Compared with US cities of 100,000 to 250,000
El Cajon sits at 435 ft (133 m) above sea level. Of the 249 US cities with 100,000 to 250,000 people, the highest is Lakewood (5,520 ft) and the lowest is Fort Lauderdale (3 ft). The average is 862 ft: El Cajon is 427 ft below it.
The state capital, Sacramento, is 474 mi away in a straight line and 408 ft lower than El Cajon.
The nearest city with more than 250,000 people is San Diego, 13 mi away in a straight line and 372 ft lower.
Of the 75 cities in California with a page, El Cajon is the 24th highest: the highest is Hesperia (3,178 ft) and the lowest is Stockton (12 ft).
The highest point in California is Mount Whitney, at 14,494 ft according to the USGS: 14,059 ft above El Cajon, 272 mi away in a straight line.
- 127 El Cajon 435 ft
Each color band is 500 m (1,640 ft), the same colors as the map. See the full list
Nearest cities with a page
Tools for this place
Step-by-step guide How to find the elevation of any place
Frequently asked questions
What people most often ask about the elevation of El Cajon.
What is the elevation of El Cajon?
El Cajon is 435 feet (133 m) above sea level. That’s the ground height from the USGS 3DEP elevation model at the city’s reference point in the official gazetteer (GNIS). The city doesn’t have a single elevation: it rises and falls from one neighborhood to another.
What are the coordinates of El Cajon?
Latitude 32.79477 and longitude -116.96253, in decimal degrees (32° 47′ 41″ N · 116° 57′ 45″ W). In UTM, zone 11: 503,509 E and 3,628,536 N, on NAD83.
How does El Cajon rank among the highest US cities of its size?
It’s the 123rd lowest of the 249 US cities with 100,000 to 250,000 people. The highest is Lakewood (5,520 ft) and the lowest is Fort Lauderdale (3 ft).
What county is El Cajon in?
San Diego County, California.
Which is higher, El Cajon or Sacramento?
El Cajon. El Cajon sits at 435 ft and Sacramento at 27 ft: a difference of 408 ft, 474 mi apart in a straight line.
How is elevation measured?
Elevation is the height above mean sea level. In the US the official reference is the NAVD88 vertical datum. Summits are surveyed on the ground, with leveling and precise GPS. The USGS 3DEP is an elevation model of the whole country, largely from 1-meter lidar: it gives the ground height at every point. That’s why it can differ by a few feet from the official figure of a sharp summit.
Sources
- USGS 3DEP (EPQS service) The elevation: the ground height at the reference point. Public domain.
- USGS GNIS (official gazetteer) The city’s reference point (“Populated Place”). Public domain.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 estimates Population, land area (2025 Gazetteer) and counties. Public domain.
- TIGERweb (U.S. Census Bureau) Which county and city the point falls in. Public domain.
- timezone-boundary-builder The point’s time zone (ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors).
- Terrain Tiles, OpenStreetMap and OpenFreeMap The relief shading and the base map (ODbL).
Methodology and sources · Spotted a mistake? Let us know