Ames, IA: how dark is the sky here?

Ames's sky measures urban here. Sky glow overhead most nights. Typically only planets, the Moon, and a handful of the brightest stars are visible. Ames's sky is brighter than 86.5% of the 3,206 cities in this dataset.

This comes from a satellite measuring light radiating upward, not a person's eyes on the ground, so it isn't the same as a Bortle class, though the two track each other closely.

How far Ames is from a meaningfully darker sky

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Boone, IA, roughly 13 miles away in a straight line, rated suburban edge. Road distance will be more.

Boone, IA is itself still a measured city, not a designated dark-sky park, this only compares against the 3,206 places this dataset covers.

How Ames compares nationally

About 69,026 people live in Ames, IA, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Ames places 2,757 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.