Elevation of Sacramento
27ft
above sea level · 8 m
Sacramento is the capital of California. Of the 50 state capitals, it’s the 3rd lowest. The state’s largest city is Los Angeles.
By the Mapsfera Team
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Place facts
- Coordinates
- 38.58° N · 121.49° W
- In degrees, minutes and seconds: 38° 34′ 54″ N · 121° 29′ 40″ W
- UTM coordinates
- 10S · 631,140 E · 4,271,420 N
- Zone 10 · NAD83, the official US datum
- Time zone
- Pacific Time
- UTC−8 · UTC−7 in summer (daylight saving time)
- Population (2025)
- 536,449 people
- 98.6 sq mi of land · 5,438 people/sq mi
- Elevation model
- USGS 3DEP, 1 m grid
- Lidar from November 2019: the ground height at the city’s reference point.
Population
Sacramento had 536,449 residents on July 1, 2025, according to Census Bureau estimates, 2.2% more than in April 2020, when it had 524,907. Its 98.6 sq mi of land work out to 5,438 people/sq mi; the state average is 253 people/sq mi.
It’s the 6th most populous of the 1,617 places the Census counts in California (cities, towns and CDPs), after Los Angeles (3,869,089), and holds 1.4% of the state’s population.
It lies entirely within Sacramento County. Its reference point in the USGS gazetteer is 1.7 mi from the geographic center the Census gives for the city.
Compared with other state capitals
Sacramento sits at 27 ft (8 m) above sea level. Of the 50 state capitals, the highest is Santa Fe (6,997 ft) and the lowest is Providence (9 ft). The average is 1,098 ft: Sacramento is 1,071 ft below it.
Among the 91 cities with more than 250,000 people, it’s the 11th lowest.
Of the 15 cities in California with a page, Sacramento is the 2nd lowest: the highest is Riverside (829 ft) and the lowest is Stockton (12 ft).
The highest point in California is Mount Whitney, at 14,494 ft according to the USGS: 14,467 ft above Sacramento, 223 mi away in a straight line.
- 48 Sacramento 27 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
Frequently asked questions
What people most often ask about the elevation of Sacramento.
What is the elevation of Sacramento?
Sacramento is 27 feet (8 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 Sacramento?
Latitude 38.58157 and longitude -121.49440, in decimal degrees (38° 34′ 54″ N · 121° 29′ 40″ W). In UTM, zone 10: 631,140 E and 4,271,420 N, on NAD83.
How does Sacramento rank among the highest state capitals?
It’s the 3rd lowest of the 50 state capitals. The highest is Santa Fe (6,997 ft) and the lowest is Providence (9 ft).
What county is Sacramento in?
Sacramento County, California.
Which is higher, Sacramento or Stockton?
Sacramento. Sacramento sits at 27 ft and Stockton at 12 ft: a difference of 15 ft, 44 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