Elevation of San Francisco
55ft
above sea level · 17 m
San Francisco is a city in California with 826,079 people, the 4th most populous in the state. Of the 91 US cities with more than 250,000 people, it’s the 24th lowest.
By the Mapsfera Team
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Place facts
- Coordinates
- 37.78° N · 122.42° W
- In degrees, minutes and seconds: 37° 46′ 30″ N · 122° 25′ 10″ W
- UTM coordinates
- 10S · 551,127 E · 4,181,010 N
- Zone 10 · NAD83, the official US datum
- Time zone
- Pacific Time
- UTC−8 · UTC−7 in summer (daylight saving time)
- Population (2025)
- 826,079 people
- 46.7 sq mi of land · 17,693 people/sq mi
- Elevation model
- USGS 3DEP, 1 m grid
- Lidar from March 2023: the ground height at the city’s reference point.
Population
San Francisco had 826,079 residents on July 1, 2025, according to Census Bureau estimates, 6.0% fewer than in April 2020, when it had 878,550. Its 46.7 sq mi of land work out to 17,693 people/sq mi; the state average is 253 people/sq mi.
It’s the 4th most populous of the 1,617 places the Census counts in California (cities, towns and CDPs), after Los Angeles (3,869,089), and holds 2.1% of the state’s population.
It lies entirely within San Francisco County. Its reference point in the USGS gazetteer is 34 mi from the geographic center the Census gives for the city.
Compared with other big cities
San Francisco sits at 55 ft (17 m) above sea level. Of the 91 US cities with more than 250,000 people, the highest is Colorado Springs (6,009 ft) and the lowest is New Orleans (0 ft). The average is 858 ft: San Francisco is 803 ft below it.
The state capital, Sacramento, is 75 mi away in a straight line and 28 ft lower than San Francisco.
Of the 15 cities in California with a page, San Francisco is the 6th 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: 14,439 ft above San Francisco, 242 mi away in a straight line.
- 68 San Francisco 55 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 San Francisco.
What is the elevation of San Francisco?
San Francisco is 55 feet (17 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 San Francisco?
Latitude 37.77500 and longitude -122.41944, in decimal degrees (37° 46′ 30″ N · 122° 25′ 10″ W). In UTM, zone 10: 551,127 E and 4,181,010 N, on NAD83.
How does San Francisco rank among the highest big cities?
It’s the 24th lowest of the 91 US cities with more than 250,000 people. The highest is Colorado Springs (6,009 ft) and the lowest is New Orleans (0 ft).
What county is San Francisco in?
San Francisco County, California.
Which is higher, San Francisco or Sacramento?
San Francisco. San Francisco sits at 55 ft and Sacramento at 27 ft: a difference of 28 ft, 75 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