Elevation of Santa Maria
218ft
above sea level · 66 m
Santa Maria is a city in California with 111,390 people, the 61st most populous in the state. Of the 249 US cities with 100,000 to 250,000 people, it’s the 101st lowest.
By the Mapsfera Team
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Place facts
- Coordinates
- 34.95° N · 120.44° W
- In degrees, minutes and seconds: 34° 57′ 11″ N · 120° 26′ 9″ W
- UTM coordinates
- 10S · 734,156 E · 3,870,838 N
- Zone 10 · NAD83, the official US datum
- Time zone
- Pacific Time
- UTC−8 · UTC−7 in summer (daylight saving time)
- Population (2025)
- 111,390 people
- 22.8 sq mi of land · 4,883 people/sq mi
- Elevation model
- USGS 3DEP, 1 m grid
- Lidar from October 2023: the ground height at the city’s reference point.
Population
Santa Maria had 111,390 residents on July 1, 2025, according to Census Bureau estimates, 1.5% more than in April 2020, when it had 109,695. Its 22.8 sq mi of land work out to 4,883 people/sq mi; the state average is 253 people/sq mi.
It’s the 61st 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 Santa Barbara County. Its reference point in the USGS gazetteer is 1.4 mi from the geographic center the Census gives for the city.
Compared with US cities of 100,000 to 250,000
Santa Maria sits at 218 ft (66 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: Santa Maria is 644 ft below it.
The state capital, Sacramento, is 257 mi away in a straight line and 191 ft lower than Santa Maria.
The nearest city with more than 250,000 people is Bakersfield, 85 mi away in a straight line and 186 ft higher.
Of the 75 cities in California with a page, Santa Maria is the 33rd 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: 14,276 ft above Santa Maria, 164 mi away in a straight line.
- 149 Santa Maria 218 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 Santa Maria.
What is the elevation of Santa Maria?
Santa Maria is 218 feet (66 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 Santa Maria?
Latitude 34.95303 and longitude -120.43572, in decimal degrees (34° 57′ 11″ N · 120° 26′ 9″ W). In UTM, zone 10: 734,156 E and 3,870,838 N, on NAD83.
How does Santa Maria rank among the highest US cities of its size?
It’s the 101st 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 Santa Maria in?
Santa Barbara County, California.
Which is higher, Santa Maria or Sacramento?
Santa Maria. Santa Maria sits at 218 ft and Sacramento at 27 ft: a difference of 191 ft, 257 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