Elevation of Harrisburg
334ft
above sea level · 102 m
Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. Of the 50 state capitals, it’s the 22nd lowest. The state’s largest city is Philadelphia.
By the Mapsfera Team
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Place facts
- Coordinates
- 40.27° N · 76.88° W
- In degrees, minutes and seconds: 40° 16′ 25″ N · 76° 53′ 4″ W
- UTM coordinates
- 18T · 339,786 E · 4,459,839 N
- Zone 18 · NAD83, the official US datum
- Time zone
- Eastern Time
- UTC−5 · UTC−4 in summer (daylight saving time)
- Population (2025)
- 50,522 people
- 8.12 sq mi of land · 6,222 people/sq mi
- Elevation model
- USGS 3DEP, 1 m grid
- Lidar from February 2016: the ground height at the city’s reference point.
Population
Harrisburg had 50,522 residents on July 1, 2025, according to Census Bureau estimates, 0.9% more than in April 2020, when it had 50,070. Its 8.12 sq mi of land work out to 6,222 people/sq mi; the state average is 292 people/sq mi.
It’s the 10th most populous of the 2,003 places the Census counts in Pennsylvania (cities, towns and CDPs), after Philadelphia (1,574,281), and holds 0.4% of the state’s population.
It lies entirely within Dauphin County. Its reference point in the USGS gazetteer is 0.2 mi from the geographic center the Census gives for the city.
Compared with other state capitals
Harrisburg sits at 334 ft (102 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: Harrisburg is 764 ft below it.
Of the 3 cities in Pennsylvania with a page, Harrisburg is the 2nd highest. The others are Pittsburgh (765 ft) and Philadelphia (35 ft).
The highest point in Pennsylvania is Mount Davis, at 3,213 ft according to the USGS: 2,879 ft above Harrisburg, 126 mi away in a straight line.
- 29 Harrisburg 334 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 Harrisburg.
What is the elevation of Harrisburg?
Harrisburg is 334 feet (102 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 Harrisburg?
Latitude 40.27370 and longitude -76.88442, in decimal degrees (40° 16′ 25″ N · 76° 53′ 4″ W). In UTM, zone 18: 339,786 E and 4,459,839 N, on NAD83.
How does Harrisburg rank among the highest state capitals?
It’s the 22nd lowest of the 50 state capitals. The highest is Santa Fe (6,997 ft) and the lowest is Providence (9 ft).
What county is Harrisburg in?
Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
Which is higher, Harrisburg or Baltimore?
Harrisburg. Harrisburg sits at 334 ft and Baltimore at 36 ft: a difference of 298 ft, 69 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