Carson City is located in northwestern Nevada in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada range. It lies 30 miles south of Reno, Nevada in the Carson River Valley near Lake Tahoe, which is 14 miles to the west. Carson City includes an area that stretches across the Carson Range of the Sierra Mountains to Eagle Valley and the Pine Nut Mountains. It is bordered on the north by Washoe and Storey counties, and on the west by the state of California.

Carson City has a pleasant, semi-desert climate, and boasts an average of 265 sunny days annually. Summers are warm and dry with peak temperatures reaching into the 90° F range, while temperatures can drop into the 50° F range during the evenings. Winters are cold and dry with snow, but not in the amounts of nearby areas that are at a much higher elevation. The temperatures range from the high teens to the 40° F range. Annual snowfall in the city averages about 22 inches.