The greatest vertical range in canton St. Gallen
National ranking →Pfäfers has the greatest vertical range in canton St. Gallen: 2'651 m between its lowest and highest terrain. Next come Mels (2'454 m) and Bad Ragaz (2'195 m). This is the drop from valley floor to summit across the whole municipal area. Source: swisstopo swissALTIRegio 2026.
Ranking
swisstopo · swissALTIRegio 2026| Rank | Municipality | Vertical range | Residents |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pfäfers | 2'651 m | 1'647 |
| 2 | Mels | 2'454 m | 9'581 |
| 3 | Bad Ragaz | 2'195 m | 6'836 |
| 4 | Vilters-Wangs | 2'152 m | 5'168 |
| 5 | Quarten | 2'090 m | 3'118 |
| 6 | Flums | 2'086 m | 5'458 |
| 7 | Walenstadt | 1'958 m | 6'083 |
| 8 | Sevelen | 1'931 m | 5'405 |
| 9 | Grabs | 1'910 m | 7'535 |
| 10 | Wartau | 1'883 m | 5'617 |
| 11 | Buchs | 1'780 m | 14'287 |
| 12 | Sennwald | 1'721 m | 6'428 |
| 13 | Gams | 1'678 m | 3'736 |
| 14 | Amden | 1'664 m | 1'896 |
| 15 | Wildhaus-Alt St. Johann | 1'624 m | 2'614 |
| 16 | Schänis | 1'507 m | 4'213 |
| 17 | Nesslau | 1'433 m | 3'937 |
| 18 | Altstätten | 1'386 m | 12'788 |
| 19 | Sargans | 1'344 m | 6'670 |
| 20 | Ebnat-Kappel | 1'249 m | 5'353 |
| 21 | Kaltbrunn | 1'127 m | 5'128 |
| 22 | Rüthi | 965 m | 2'667 |
| 23 | Gommiswald | 936 m | 5'838 |
| 24 | Oberriet | 897 m | 9'417 |
| 25 | Eschenbach | 878 m | 10'401 |
| 26 | Weesen | 791 m | 1'895 |
| 27 | Mosnang | 739 m | 2'936 |
| 28 | Wattwil | 736 m | 9'262 |
| 29 | Neckertal | 591 m | 6'446 |
| 30 | St. Gallen | 568 m | 79'487 |
| 31 | Lichtensteig | 542 m | 2'157 |
| 32 | Rorschacherberg | 495 m | 7'741 |
| 33 | Eichberg | 473 m | 1'614 |
| 34 | Eggersriet | 454 m | 2'370 |
| 35 | Kirchberg | 444 m | 9'879 |
| 36 | Untereggen | 417 m | 1'035 |
| 37 | Degersheim | 416 m | 4'209 |
| 38 | Waldkirch | 402 m | 3'581 |
| 39 | Bütschwil-Ganterschwil | 394 m | 5'385 |
| 40 | Gaiserwald | 368 m | 8'828 |
| 41 | Oberuzwil | 339 m | 6'864 |
| 42 | Lütisburg | 331 m | 1'647 |
| 43 | Balgach | 312 m | 5'229 |
| 44 | Berneck | 310 m | 4'026 |
| 45 | Jonschwil | 294 m | 3'979 |
| 46 | Wittenbach | 291 m | 10'157 |
| 47 | Rebstein | 291 m | 5'084 |
| 48 | Flawil | 272 m | 10'672 |
| 49 | Thal | 270 m | 7'217 |
| 50 | Wil | 265 m | 25'444 |
| 51 | Au | 260 m | 8'771 |
| 52 | Gossau | 250 m | 18'943 |
| 53 | Mörschwil | 249 m | 3'702 |
| 54 | St. Margrethen | 227 m | 6'731 |
| 55 | Niederhelfenschwil | 217 m | 3'309 |
| 56 | Zuzwil | 216 m | 4'994 |
| 57 | Uzwil | 209 m | 14'676 |
| 58 | Berg | 200 m | 1'021 |
| 59 | Benken | 194 m | 3'119 |
| 60 | Marbach | 193 m | 2'147 |
| 61 | Uznach | 186 m | 7'114 |
| 62 | Andwil | 185 m | 2'117 |
| 63 | Oberbüren | 181 m | 4'762 |
| 64 | Goldach | 169 m | 9'872 |
| 65 | Niederbüren | 153 m | 1'571 |
| 66 | Häggenschwil | 145 m | 1'432 |
| 67 | Schmerikon | 140 m | 4'168 |
| 68 | Rheineck | 138 m | 3'566 |
| 69 | Rapperswil-Jona | 137 m | 28'836 |
| 70 | Steinach | 105 m | 3'579 |
| 71 | Muolen | 92 m | 1'251 |
| 72 | Tübach | 84 m | 1'587 |
| 73 | Rorschach | 74 m | 10'389 |
| 74 | Diepoldsau | 19 m | 6'933 |
| 75 | Widnau | 13 m | 10'485 |
How we measure this
swisstopoThe vertical range is the highest terrain point minus the lowest, in metres, across the whole municipal area, from the swisstopo swissALTIRegio digital elevation model (swissALTIRegio 2026). It captures the valley-to-summit drop a territory spans — Anniviers leads at 3,865 m, and Lauterbrunnen ranks high because of the near-vertical wall rising from its valley floor. A large range usually goes hand in hand with steep terrain; see the steepest-municipalities ranking for the average gradient.
Frequently asked questions
- Which municipality in canton St. Gallen has the greatest vertical range?
- Pfäfers, spanning 2'651 m between its lowest and highest terrain (swissALTIRegio 2026) — the greatest vertical range of any municipality in canton St. Gallen.
- How is vertical range calculated?
- It is the highest terrain point within the municipal area minus the lowest, both taken from the swisstopo elevation model. It measures the total height difference the territory spans, from valley floor to summit.