What is the tallest radio or TV tower in the US?

The tallest registered towers

Ranked by overall height above ground as registered with the FCC, the four constructed structures above 2,000 feet are:

1. [Galesburg, North Dakota, ASR 1038731](/towers/north-dakota/galesburg-1038731): 627.8 m (2,060 ft), registered to Parker Broadcasting of Dakota, LLC.
2. [Walnut Grove, California, ASR 1011404](/towers/california/walnut-grove-1011404): 624.5 m (2,049 ft), a guyed tower registered to Sacramento Tower Joint Venture.
3. [Hitchcock, Texas, ASR 1254220](/towers/texas/hitchcock-1254220): 612.0 m (2,008 ft), registered to SBA Towers XI, LLC.
4. [Alvin, Texas, ASR 1049267](/towers/texas/alvin-1049267): 610.5 m (2,003 ft), registered to American Towers LLC.

Behind them, fifteen constructed structures are registered at exactly 609.6 m (2,000 ft), three in Iowa, two each in Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas, and one each in California, Georgia, Missouri and Oklahoma. The full top 100 is on the tallest towers ranking.

Radio, TV and cell: one ranking

Searches ask separately for the tallest radio tower, TV tower and cell tower, but the FCC registry does not sort structures that way. A registration describes the structure (its height, location, type and owner), not every service transmitting from it, and one structure can host antennas for several licensees and services.

The very tallest is registered to a broadcasting company; the others in the top four are registered to a joint venture and to two tower companies. Among constructed structures registered as monopoles (single steel shafts, a common cell-site design), the tallest is registered at 656 ft, less than a third of the record.

Why so many towers stop at 2,000 feet

Federal aviation rules set a high bar above that height. Under the FAA's notice rules, a proposal to build or alter a structure to more than 2,000 feet above ground level is presumed to be a hazard to air navigation and an inefficient use of airspace, and the proponent must explain why it would be neither.

That presumption helps explain the clustering in the data: in TowerCensus's copy of the FCC file, 15 constructed structures sit at exactly 2,000 ft while only four are registered above it.

How the height is measured

The figure in an FCC registration is the overall height above ground level. The FCC's rules count the highest point of the structure, including any obstruction lighting or lightning arrester on top. A registration also lists the height above mean sea level and the ground elevation, which is why a tower on high ground can top out far higher above sea level than a taller tower on a coastal plain.

Registered heights are as filed. Owners must report a change in height within five days, but a figure can lag a physical change until the registration is amended. TowerCensus shows heights exactly as registered and does not adjust them.

Where the tallest towers are

Very tall structures are rare. Of the roughly 142,000 constructed registered structures, 783 are registered at 1,000 ft or more. Texas has the most, 104, followed by Florida (58), North Carolina (55), Louisiana (41) and Missouri (39).

Each state has its own top-50 list, for example the tallest towers in Texas and the tallest towers in North Dakota. The state rankings compare states by count and average height.