Bay City, TX: how dark is the sky here?

Satellite radiance puts Bay City in the suburban band. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. Bay City's sky is brighter than 63.3% 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 Bay City is from a meaningfully darker sky

Iowa Colony, TX, about 45 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the suburban edge band, one step darker than Bay City. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

Iowa Colony, 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 Bay City compares nationally

About 17,471 people live in Bay City, TX, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Bay City places 2,019 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.