Elevation of Santa Fe
6,997ft
above sea level · 2,133 m
Santa Fe is the capital of New Mexico. Of the 50 state capitals, it’s the highest. The state’s largest city is Albuquerque.
By the Mapsfera Team
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Place facts
- Coordinates
- 35.69° N · 105.94° W
- In degrees, minutes and seconds: 35° 41′ 13″ N · 105° 56′ 16″ W
- UTM coordinates
- 13S · 415,144 E · 3,949,635 N
- Zone 13 · NAD83, the official US datum
- Time zone
- Mountain Time
- UTC−7 · UTC−6 in summer (daylight saving time)
- Population (2025)
- 89,837 people
- 52.2 sq mi of land · 1,720 people/sq mi
- Elevation model
- USGS 3DEP, 1 m grid
- Lidar from October 2014: the ground height at the city’s reference point.
Population
Santa Fe had 89,837 residents on July 1, 2025, according to Census Bureau estimates, 2.7% more than in April 2020, when it had 87,508. Its 52.2 sq mi of land work out to 1,720 people/sq mi; the state average is 18 people/sq mi.
It’s the 4th most populous of the 528 places the Census counts in New Mexico (cities, towns and CDPs), after Albuquerque (556,588), and holds 4.2% of the state’s population.
It lies entirely within Santa Fe County. Its reference point in the USGS gazetteer is 3.0 mi from the geographic center the Census gives for the city.
Compared with other state capitals
Santa Fe sits at 6,997 ft (2,133 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: Santa Fe is 5,899 ft above it.
The highest point in New Mexico is Wheeler Peak, at 13,161 ft according to the USGS: 6,164 ft above Santa Fe, 67 mi away in a straight line.
- 1 Santa Fe 6,997 ft
Each color band is 500 m (1,640 ft), the same colors as the map. See the full list
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Frequently asked questions
What people most often ask about the elevation of Santa Fe.
What is the elevation of Santa Fe?
Santa Fe is 6,997 feet (2,133 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 Santa Fe?
Latitude 35.68698 and longitude -105.93780, in decimal degrees (35° 41′ 13″ N · 105° 56′ 16″ W). In UTM, zone 13: 415,144 E and 3,949,635 N, on NAD83.
How does Santa Fe rank among the highest state capitals?
It’s the highest of the 50 state capitals. The highest is Santa Fe (6,997 ft) and the lowest is Providence (9 ft).
What county is Santa Fe in?
Santa Fe County, New Mexico.
Which is higher, Santa Fe or Albuquerque?
Santa Fe. Santa Fe sits at 6,997 ft and Albuquerque at 4,955 ft: a difference of 2,042 ft, 58 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