Elevation of Lowell
117ft
above sea level · 36 m
Lowell is a city in Massachusetts with 119,971 people, the 5th most populous in the state. Of the 249 US cities with 100,000 to 250,000 people, it’s the 77th lowest.
By the Mapsfera Team
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Place facts
- Coordinates
- 42.63° N · 71.32° W
- In degrees, minutes and seconds: 42° 38′ 0″ N · 71° 18′ 58″ W
- UTM coordinates
- 19T · 310,090 E · 4,722,709 N
- Zone 19 · NAD83, the official US datum
- Time zone
- Eastern Time
- UTC−5 · UTC−4 in summer (daylight saving time)
- Population (2025)
- 119,971 people
- 13.6 sq mi of land · 8,815 people/sq mi
- Elevation model
- USGS 3DEP, 1 m grid
- Lidar from March 2021: the ground height at the city’s reference point.
Population
Lowell had 119,971 residents on July 1, 2025, according to Census Bureau estimates, 3.8% more than in April 2020, when it had 115,596. Its 13.6 sq mi of land work out to 8,815 people/sq mi; the state average is 917 people/sq mi.
It’s the 5th most populous of the 248 places the Census counts in Massachusetts (cities, towns and CDPs), after Boston (672,973), and holds 1.7% of the state’s population.
It lies entirely within Middlesex 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
Lowell sits at 117 ft (36 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: Lowell is 745 ft below it.
The state capital, Boston, is 23 mi away in a straight line and 69 ft lower than Lowell.
Of the 9 cities in Massachusetts with a page, Lowell is the 2nd highest: the highest is Worcester (484 ft) and the lowest is Cambridge (21 ft).
The highest point in Massachusetts is Mount Greylock, at 3,491 ft according to the USGS: 3,374 ft above Lowell, 94 mi away in a straight line.
- 173 Lowell 117 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
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Frequently asked questions
What people most often ask about the elevation of Lowell.
What is the elevation of Lowell?
Lowell is 117 feet (36 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 Lowell?
Latitude 42.63343 and longitude -71.31617, in decimal degrees (42° 38′ 0″ N · 71° 18′ 58″ W). In UTM, zone 19: 310,090 E and 4,722,709 N, on NAD83.
How does Lowell rank among the highest US cities of its size?
It’s the 77th 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 Lowell in?
Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
Which is higher, Lowell or Boston?
Lowell. Lowell sits at 117 ft and Boston at 48 ft: a difference of 69 ft, 23 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