Talk:List of highest counties in the United States

Requested move 23 June 2022

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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Result:
Moved per consensus garnered below. Thanks and kudos to editors for your input; good health to all! P.I. Ellsworth , ed. ^put'r there 08:43, 24 July 2022 (UTC)

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List of highest mean elevation U.S. counties → List of highest counties in the United States – The current title is a bit cumbersome, suggest this title as a more WP:CONCISE improvement. I don't think mean elevation is important in the title, but List of highest counties in the United States by mean elevation or List of highest counties in the U.S. by mean elevation are possibilities. Also possible are List of highest United States counties or List of highest U.S. counties (or similarly, List of highest United States counties by mean elevation and List of highest U.S. counties by mean elevation). Open to suggestions. Mdewman6 (talk) 23:50, 23 June 2022 (UTC) — Relisting. — Ceso femmuin mbolgaig mbung, mellohi! (投稿) 04:30, 1 July 2022 (UTC)

Keep as is: @Mdewman6: This title is precisely correct. There are three ways to measure the elevation of an area: (1) maximum elevation, (2) mean of extremes elevation, or (3) average elevation. Maximum elevation is the easiest and average elevation is the most accurate but most difficult. Your suggested names are good and should be used as redirects to this list.

Peakbagger.com has a list of U.S. County High Points over 13,000 feet, although these elevations have not been corrected to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988. I will create an updated List of highest U.S. county high points soon. The United States Geological Survey does not calculate the average elevation of counties. Until the USGS has more complete National Map data, we will have to wait. Yours aye,  Buaidh  talk e-mail 23:05, 24 June 2022 (UTC)

Move: @Mdewman6: Upon further reflection, I think the List of highest U.S. counties by mean elevation would be a better name for this list. Your other suggested names can be redirects. I have also created the List of highest U.S. county high points. Yours aye,  Buaidh  talk e-mail 00:07, 26 June 2022 (UTC)

• Support as proposed. I am not convinced that what this page actually shows is "mean elevation", since the mean of the highest and lowest points in a given region is not the same as the mean elevation across the total region; the sample choice seems idiosyncratic. In a simple example, a region with point elevations of "10 10 10 10 0" would show a mean elevation of 5 under this system, while a region with point elevations of "15 0 0 0 0" would show a mean elevation of 7.5, despite the first being "higher" overall. There might be a better title and there is a coastline paradox problem here, but removal of "mean elevation" seems appropriate. Dekimasuよ! 08:14, 2 July 2022 (UTC)
  • @Dekimasu: Mean elevation as used in this list is the "mean of extremes" as opposed to the "statistical average". I will state that explicitly. USGS digital elevation model DEM uses a grid system to approximate elevations, although this system does not capture most elevation extremes. The USGS has calculated the statistical average elevation for only a few U.S. counties. In most, but not all, mountain areas, the "mean of extremes" will exceed the "statistical average". In plateau country, the opposite is often the case. Thanks,  Buaidh  talk e-mail 03:18, 3 July 2022 (UTC)
    • In that case, I suppose I can remain neutral as far as this request, although under the current system of computation I am not certain that the resulting number conveys meaningful information to the reader under WP:NOTSTATS. Dekimasuよ! 09:07, 5 July 2022 (UTC)
  • Please see "How do I find the average elevation of a county?" The mean of extremes is the best available.  Buaidh  talk e-mail 15:28, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

@Dekimasu, Mellohi!, and Dekimasu: As the creator of this list, I formally request that it be moved to the List of highest U.S. counties by mean elevation to be consistent with the List of highest U.S. county high points. Yours aye,  Buaidh  talk e-mail 22:57, 17 July 2022 (UTC)

• Support as proposed as a more WP:NATURAL and WP:CONCISE title. The first sentence of the article will easily clarify that this is a list by mean elevation. Red Slash 02:03, 19 July 2022 (UTC)
  • @Red Slash: OK, but it would be better if the title was the List of highest U.S. counties to be consistent with the List of highest U.S. county high points. Yours aye,  Buaidh  talk e-mail 15:10, 21 July 2022 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.