What Is My Elevation?
Find how high above sea level you are right now, in feet and meters. Tap the button, or search an address, enter coordinates or click the map.
Your elevation
—ft
Choose a location to see its elevation.
…ft
Looking up elevation…
ft
m
How accurate is this?
Data sources:
Life at ft
Standard-atmosphere estimates for this elevation. Weather changes the real values a little day to day.
- Oxygen per breath
- % of sea level
- Air is still 20.9% oxygen; there is just less air.
- Oxygen at altitude
Sources: pressure from the U.S. Standard Atmosphere, 1976 (NOAA, NASA, USAF); boiling point from the Antoine equation for water (Lange's Handbook of Chemistry). Methodology.
How to find your elevation
- Tap Find my elevation and allow location access when your browser asks.
- Read your elevation in feet, with meters below it, plus how accurate the value is at your spot.
- No location access? Search a US street address, type coordinates, or click the map instead.
Every result has its own link (the coordinates are in the address bar), so you can share or bookmark it.
What "above sea level" means
Elevation is the height of the ground above a reference surface that stands in for mean sea level. In the contiguous United States, USGS elevations are measured from the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88), the surveyed reference used for official heights. Points below that surface, such as Badwater Basin in Death Valley, have negative elevations.
Elevation is fixed for a place. Altitude describes something above the ground or sea level, like a plane, and changes as it moves. Your phone's GPS reports an altitude; this tool reports the ground elevation where you are.
More elevation and location tools
- Elevation by address
- Elevation from lat/long
- My latitude & longitude
- Find location by lat/long
- What is my address
- What time zone am I in
- Boiling point at elevation
- Pressure at elevation
- Temperature at altitude
- Altitude for canning
- Steps to elevation
- Treadmill elevation
- Angle of elevation
- Angle of depression
- Mountains near me
- Compare elevations
- High-altitude baking
- Oxygen at altitude
- Elevation map
- Elevation profile
Frequently asked questions
How accurate is my elevation?
In the United States the value comes from the USGS 3D Elevation Program, which USGS reports has an overall vertical accuracy (RMSE) of about 0.53 m (1.7 ft). The result also depends on how precisely your device located you; the card shows both under "How accurate is this?".
Why is this different from the altitude my phone shows?
A phone's GPS altitude is an estimate from satellite signals and is usually less precise vertically than horizontally. This tool uses your position only to find where you are, then looks up the surveyed ground elevation at that point.
Does it work outside the United States?
Yes. Outside the US the elevation comes from Terrain Tiles, an open dataset that blends national and global elevation models. Accuracy varies by country; the result card shows the published figure for the data used at your spot when one exists.
Is the elevation for the ground or for where I am standing?
For the ground at your position. If you are on an upper floor or in a plane, add your height above the ground yourself.
Is my location saved?
Your coordinates are sent to our server to look up the elevation, and the result is stored by coordinates for up to 90 days so repeat lookups are fast. We do not store it with anything that identifies you. The lookup itself goes to the data providers listed under Sources.
What is the difference between elevation and altitude?
Elevation is the height of a point on the ground above sea level. Altitude is the height of something above sea level or the ground, such as a plane, and changes as it moves. This tool reports elevation.
Sources
- USGS Elevation Point Query Service — elevation for US points (3D Elevation Program)
- Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen) — elevation outside the US; credits in the result card
- U.S. Census Bureau Geocoder — US address search, county and ZIP area
- OpenStreetMap Nominatim — place name for your coordinates (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL)
- U.S. Standard Atmosphere, 1976 — air pressure and oxygen at elevation
- USGS The National Map — topographic map
How each number is produced: methodology and data sources.