Highest Major Cities in Costa Rica

Cities in Costa Rica with more than 15,000 inhabitants, ranked by elevation above sea level (GeoNames digital elevation model).

📅 2026📏 metres41 entries🇨🇷 See all of this country’s rankings →

All entries · 41

1 metres10 metres100 metres1,000 metres

Every dot is one entry, placed by its value (metres, logarithmic scale); the vertical bar marks each row’s median.

Cartago26,594 people · Cartago Province

1,440 m

Aserrí25,874 people · San José

1,338 m

Ipís26,669 people · San José

1,310 m

Paraíso39,702 people · Cartago Province

1,306 m

San Diego16,991 people · Cartago Province

1,292 m

Purral30,034 people · San José

1,283 m

San Vicente de Moravia34,447 people · San José

1,235 m

San Vicente34,447 people · San José

1,227 m

San Miguel28,827 people · San José

1,216 m

San Juan de Dios15,469 people · San José

1,207 m

San Pablo21,662 people · Heredia Province

1,203 m

Guadalupe26,005 people · San José

1,202 m

San Pedro27,477 people · San José

1,199 m

Curridabat34,586 people · San José

1,192 m

Patarrá23,983 people · San José

1,180 m

San Rafael Arriba15,051 people · San José

1,180 m

Heredia21,947 people · Heredia Province

1,173 m

Calle Blancos20,710 people · San José

1,155 m

Colima15,875 people · San José

1,139 m

San José335,007 people · San José

1,133 m

San Francisco55,923 people · Heredia Province

1,131 m

San Felipe24,985 people · San José

1,127 m

Mercedes Norte26,007 people · Heredia Province

1,118 m

San Juan26,047 people · San José

1,114 m

San Rafael25,410 people · San José

1,037 m

Tejar22,433 people · San José

999 m

Alajuela47,494 people · Alajuela Province

955 m

San Rafael Abajo27,419 people · San José

826 m

San Isidro34,877 people · San José

713 m

Turrialba28,955 people · Cartago Province

674 m

Quesada27,310 people · Alajuela Province

616 m

Guápiles19,092 people · Limón Province

254 m

Esparza15,575 people · Puntarenas Province

223 m

Liberia45,380 people · Guanacaste Province

148 m

Nicoya15,313 people · Guanacaste Province

128 m

Cañas20,306 people · Guanacaste Province

86 m

Siquirres18,231 people · Limón Province

69 m

San José (Alajuela Province)31,430 people · Alajuela Province

50 m

Limón63,081 people · Limón Province

29 m

Chacarita26,354 people · Puntarenas Province

7 m

Puntarenas35,650 people · Puntarenas Province

1 m

Highlights

Within Costa Rica, Cartago ranks first in 2026 with 1,440 m, followed by Aserrí (1,338 m) and Ipís (1,310 m).

Across 41 entries, values run from 1,440 m (Cartago) to 1 m (Puntarenas), with a median of 1,131 m.

Source: GeoNames, cities with more than 15,000 inhabitants, 2026. Unit: metres.

Source: GeoNames, cities with more than 15,000 inhabitants · CC BY 4.0 (GeoNames) · fetched Oct 17, 2026 — Elevation is the GeoNames digital elevation model value at the populated place coordinates; population figures are shown for context.

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