US Counties With the Highest Land Surface Form (flat to mountainous)

3,062 US counties ranked by land surface form (flat to mountainous), from highest to lowest. First are Adams County, ID (21), Benewah County, ID (21) and Blaine County, ID (21). The middle one of the 3,062 has 5.

What this measures

The shape of the land, as a code from 1 (flat plains) to 21 (high mountains), taken from the 1970 National Atlas. Codes in between cover plains with hills, tablelands (high flat land cut by valleys) and open hills. A higher code means more varied land. Source: USDA ERS Natural Amenities Scale.

For most measures, a national ranking mostly sorts places by income and by how urban they are. Each county’s own page compares it with the 50 counties most like it instead, which is often the fairer view.

The 100 highest counties

More on land surface form (flat to mountainous)

• US Counties With the Lowest Land Surface Form (flat to mountainous)
• Land surface form (flat to mountainous) by US county: map by year and what it goes with

A ranking describes places, not the people in them, and a high or low place does not by itself say why. All US rankings.