Austin, TX's night sky, measured from orbit

Austin reads as suburban on this dataset's scale. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. Austin's sky is brighter than 44.8% of the 3,206 cities in this dataset.

Note the source: a satellite reading of upward light, not a visual Bortle scale reading. The two measure related but different things.

Where to go for a darker sky near Austin

14 miles from Austin, straight-line, sits Lakeway, TX, the nearest city here with a darker sky than Austin's own suburban band.

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

How Austin compares nationally

About 993,588 people live in Austin, TX, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Austin places 1,428 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.