Mapped: The Highest Point in Every U.S. State

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Mapped: The Highest Point in Every U.S. State

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Key Takeaways

• Alaska’s highest point reaches 20,320 ft, towering 5,826 ft above second-place California.
• All 13 states above 10,000 ft are west of the Mississippi River.
• Just five states peak below 1,000 ft, all in low-lying coastal regions.
• The gap between the highest and lowest state peaks spans nearly 20,000 ft.

From Denali in Alaska to Britton Hill in Florida, the highest points in each U.S. state reveal a dramatic divide in elevation across the country.

This map shows the tallest natural point in every state, measured in feet above sea level, using data from the USGS via the U.S. Census Bureau’s Statistical Abstract.

The differences are stark: Alaska rises above 20,000 feet, while several coastal states don’t even reach 1,000 feet.

Alaska Towers Above All Other U.S. States

Alaska dominates the ranking. Its highest point, Denali, reaches 20,320 ft—5,826 ft higher than California’s Mount Whitney in second place. This single gap is larger than the entire elevation range of many eastern states, highlighting just how extreme Alaska’s terrain is.

That makes Denali nearly 59 times taller than Florida’s highest point, underscoring the extreme range in U.S. elevation.

The data table below ranks all 50 U.S. states by their highest elevation measured in feet above sea level:

A clear geographic pattern emerges: every state above 10,000 ft lies west of the Mississippi River. These peaks cluster in major mountain systems like the Rockies, Sierra Nevada, and Cascades, while the eastern half of the country is defined by much older, lower ranges.

After Oregon at 11,239 ft, elevations drop sharply—falling more than 2,400 ft to Texas and continuing downward across much of the central United States.

From there, the list tapers into the Appalachians and the interior East, where states like North Carolina, Tennessee, and New Hampshire still reach above 6,000 ft, but far below the tallest peaks in the Rockies, Cascades, Sierra Nevada, and Alaska Range.

Only Five States Top Out Below 1,000 Feet

At the other end of the spectrum, five states never reach 1,000 feet.

Florida ranks last at just 345 ft—meaning Alaska’s highest point is nearly 59 times taller. These low peaks are concentrated in flat, coastal regions, where elevation changes are minimal compared to the mountainous West.

Those states are mostly coastal and low-lying, which helps explain why their peaks sit far below the national median of states’ highest points of 4,588.5 ft.

In total, 37 states rise above 2,000 ft, and 22 exceed 5,000 ft, highlighting how much of the country still reaches significant elevation despite the dominance of the West.

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