Most Perseid meteoroids burn up above an approximate altitude of 80 kilometres in Earth’s atmosphere.
A meteoroid becomes a meteor when it produces a visible streak while entering the atmosphere. The glow comes from intense heating and excitation of atmospheric gases around the rapidly moving particle, not from a star falling through the sky.
The Perseids are exceptionally fast, so their small particles lose material high in the atmosphere. The Perseids article places most of their burn-up above 80 kilometres, or about 50 miles, though individual meteors can begin glowing or end at different heights.
Another common mix-up concerns the terms meteoroid, meteor, and meteorite. A meteoroid is the space particle; a meteor is the luminous atmospheric phenomenon; and a meteorite is any surviving fragment that reaches the ground. Most Perseid particles do not produce meteorites.