The 10 highest towns in California by elevation
Mammoth Lakes, a ski town, is the highest incorporated town in California, at about 8,250 feet above sea level. All ten of California's highest towns sit above 4,000 feet.
These are the ten highest incorporated towns in California, ranked by elevation above sea level. The elevations are approximate — measured inside each town's limits — and are compiled from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Geological Survey.
Highest towns in California
10 of 10| # | Town | County | Elevation (approx., ft) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mammoth Lakes † | Mono County | 8,248 ft |
| 2 | Big Bear Lake | San Bernardino County | 6,832 ft |
| 3 | Truckee ‡ | Nevada County | 6,655 ft |
| 4 | South Lake Tahoe | El Dorado County | 6,260 ft |
| 5 | Portola | Plumas County | 4,975 ft |
| 6 | Loyalton | Sierra County | 4,946 ft |
| 7 | Alturas | Modoc County | 4,366 ft |
| 8 | Susanville | Lassen County | 4,362 ft |
| 9 | Dorris | Siskiyou County | 4,242 ft |
| 10 | Bishop | Inyo County | 4,147 ft |
- †Mammoth Lakes's municipal boundary is one of California's largest and runs against Mammoth Mountain's resort terrain; published town-center figures run about 7,880–8,075 ft. It is California's highest incorporated town either way.
- ‡Truckee's municipal limits take in Tahoe Donner, a development within the town whose homes and ski base sit as high as about 6,750 ft; the historic downtown sits at about 5,817 ft. By downtown figures Truckee is California's fourth-highest town — near the top of the state either way.
This ranking is one slice of the full List. The City List with Coordinates carries every U.S. city, town, and township — all 48,490 — each with its elevation, coordinates, and county in one CSV.
- The City List with Coordinates page has a free 100-row sample — download it to see the columns first.
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- Working from ZIP codes instead? The ZIP code lookup tool covers those.
Highest towns in other states
Same franchise, state by state — ranked where the spread allows it.
See all published states →Methodology & sources
About this ranking. Incorporated towns are municipalities recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau; census-designated places, townships, and unincorporated communities are not included, and uninhabited places are excluded, so this ranks inhabited towns. Each elevation is approximate: it is measured at the Census interior point, a point inside the town's boundary rather than the town center or city hall, using U.S. Geological Survey elevation data, so it can run somewhat above the town-center figure some sources publish. Treat these as within-the-limits elevations, not a single canonical height.