Elevation of Santa Clara
72ft
above sea level · 22 m
Santa Clara is a city in California with 133,446 people, the 46th most populous in the state. Of the 249 US cities with 100,000 to 250,000 people, it’s the 61st lowest.
By the All Map Tools Team
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Place facts
- Coordinates
- 37.35° N · 121.96° W
- In degrees, minutes and seconds: 37° 21′ 15″ N · 121° 57′ 19″ W
- UTM coordinates
- 10S · 592,528 E · 4,134,668 N
- Zone 10 · NAD83, the official US datum
- Time zone
- Pacific Time
- UTC−8 · UTC−7 in summer (daylight saving time)
- Population (2025)
- 133,446 people
- 18.3 sq mi of land · 7,300 people/sq mi
- Elevation model
- USGS 3DEP, 1 m grid
- Lidar from March 2020: the ground height at the city’s reference point.
Population
Santa Clara had 133,446 residents on July 1, 2025, according to Census Bureau estimates, 4.3% more than in April 2020, when it had 127,886. Its 18.3 sq mi of land work out to 7,300 people/sq mi; the state average is 253 people/sq mi.
It’s the 46th most populous of the 1,617 places the Census counts in California (cities, towns and CDPs), after Los Angeles (3,869,089), and holds 0.3% of the state’s population.
It lies entirely within Santa Clara County. Its reference point in the USGS gazetteer is 1.0 mi from the geographic center the Census gives for the city.
Compared with US cities of 100,000 to 250,000
Santa Clara sits at 72 ft (22 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: Santa Clara is 790 ft below it.
The state capital, Sacramento, is 88 mi away in a straight line and 45 ft lower than Santa Clara.
The nearest city with more than 250,000 people is San Jose, 3.5 mi away in a straight line and 9 ft higher.
Of the 75 cities in California with a page, Santa Clara is the 23rd lowest: the highest is Hesperia (3,178 ft) and the lowest is Stockton (12 ft).
The highest point in California is Mount Whitney, at 14,494 ft according to the USGS: 14,422 ft above Santa Clara, 209 mi away in a straight line.
- 189 Santa Clara 72 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
Step-by-step guide How to find the elevation of any place
Frequently asked questions
What people most often ask about the elevation of Santa Clara.
What is the elevation of Santa Clara?
Santa Clara is 72 feet (22 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 Clara?
Latitude 37.35411 and longitude -121.95524, in decimal degrees (37° 21′ 15″ N · 121° 57′ 19″ W). In UTM, zone 10: 592,528 E and 4,134,668 N, on NAD83.
How does Santa Clara rank among the highest US cities of its size?
It’s the 61st 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 Santa Clara in?
Santa Clara County, California.
Which is higher, Santa Clara or Sacramento?
Santa Clara. Santa Clara sits at 72 ft and Sacramento at 27 ft: a difference of 45 ft, 88 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