Elevation of Buffalo
602ft
above sea level · 183 m
Buffalo is a city in New York with 274,613 people, the 2nd most populous in the state. Of the 91 US cities with more than 250,000 people, it’s the 43rd highest.
By the Mapsfera Team
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Place facts
- Coordinates
- 42.89° N · 78.88° W
- In degrees, minutes and seconds: 42° 53′ 11″ N · 78° 52′ 42″ W
- UTM coordinates
- 17T · 673,252 E · 4,750,389 N
- Zone 17 · NAD83, the official US datum
- Time zone
- Eastern Time
- UTC−5 · UTC−4 in summer (daylight saving time)
- Population (2025)
- 274,613 people
- 40.4 sq mi of land · 6,801 people/sq mi
- Elevation model
- USGS 3DEP, 1 m grid
- Lidar from August 2019: the ground height at the city’s reference point.
Population
Buffalo had 274,613 residents on July 1, 2025, according to Census Bureau estimates, 1.3% fewer than in April 2020, when it had 278,301. Its 40.4 sq mi of land work out to 6,801 people/sq mi; the state average is 424 people/sq mi.
It’s the 2nd most populous of the 1,291 places the Census counts in New York (cities, towns and CDPs), after New York (8,584,629), and holds 1.4% of the state’s population.
It lies entirely within Erie County. Its reference point in the USGS gazetteer is 1.0 mi from the geographic center the Census gives for the city.
Compared with other big cities
Buffalo sits at 602 ft (183 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: Buffalo is 256 ft below it.
The state capital, Albany, is 260 mi away in a straight line and 459 ft lower than Buffalo.
Of the 3 cities in New York with a page, Buffalo is the highest. The others are Albany (143 ft) and New York (35 ft).
The highest point in New York is Mount Marcy, at 5,344 ft according to the USGS: 4,742 ft above Buffalo, 262 mi away in a straight line.
- 43 Buffalo 602 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 Buffalo.
What is the elevation of Buffalo?
Buffalo is 602 feet (183 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 Buffalo?
Latitude 42.88645 and longitude -78.87837, in decimal degrees (42° 53′ 11″ N · 78° 52′ 42″ W). In UTM, zone 17: 673,252 E and 4,750,389 N, on NAD83.
How does Buffalo rank among the highest big cities?
It’s the 43rd highest 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 Buffalo in?
Erie County, New York.
Which is higher, Buffalo or Albany?
Buffalo. Buffalo sits at 602 ft and Albany at 143 ft: a difference of 459 ft, 260 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