Elevation of McAllen
119ft
above sea level · 36 m
McAllen is a city in Texas with 150,640 people, the 22nd most populous in the state. Of the 249 US cities with 100,000 to 250,000 people, it’s the 78th lowest.
By the Mapsfera Team
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Place facts
- Coordinates
- 26.20° N · 98.23° W
- In degrees, minutes and seconds: 26° 12′ 12″ N · 98° 13′ 48″ W
- UTM coordinates
- 14R · 576,927 E · 2,898,438 N
- Zone 14 · NAD83, the official US datum
- Time zone
- Central Time
- UTC−6 · UTC−5 in summer (daylight saving time)
- Population (2025)
- 150,640 people
- 62.4 sq mi of land · 2,415 people/sq mi
- Elevation model
- USGS 3DEP, 1 m grid
- Lidar from February 2023: the ground height at the city’s reference point.
Population
McAllen had 150,640 residents on July 1, 2025, according to Census Bureau estimates, 5.9% more than in April 2020, when it had 142,188. Its 62.4 sq mi of land work out to 2,415 people/sq mi; the state average is 121 people/sq mi.
It’s the 22nd most populous of the 1,862 places the Census counts in Texas (cities, towns and CDPs), after Houston (2,397,315), and holds 0.5% of the state’s population.
It lies entirely within Hidalgo County. Its reference point in the USGS gazetteer is 1.8 mi from the geographic center the Census gives for the city.
Compared with US cities of 100,000 to 250,000
McAllen sits at 119 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: McAllen is 743 ft below it.
The state capital, Austin, is 282 mi away in a straight line and 368 ft higher than McAllen.
The nearest city with more than 250,000 people is Laredo, 120 mi away in a straight line and 294 ft higher.
Of the 44 cities in Texas with a page, McAllen is the 10th lowest: the highest is El Paso (3,713 ft) and the lowest is Corpus Christi (7 ft).
The highest point in Texas is Guadalupe Peak, at 8,749 ft according to the USGS: 8,630 ft above McAllen, 561 mi away in a straight line.
- 172 McAllen 119 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 McAllen.
What is the elevation of McAllen?
McAllen is 119 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 McAllen?
Latitude 26.20341 and longitude -98.23001, in decimal degrees (26° 12′ 12″ N · 98° 13′ 48″ W). In UTM, zone 14: 576,927 E and 2,898,438 N, on NAD83.
How does McAllen rank among the highest US cities of its size?
It’s the 78th 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 McAllen in?
Hidalgo County, Texas.
Which is higher, McAllen or Austin?
Austin. McAllen sits at 119 ft and Austin at 487 ft: a difference of 368 ft, 282 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