How dark is the sky in Boise City, ID?

Boise City reads as suburban edge on this dataset's scale. A noticeable glow near the horizon. Brighter stars and constellations are easy to pick out; the Milky Way is washed out. That's brighter than 36.7% of the 3,206 US cities in this dataset.

Worth remembering: this is satellite radiance, not a ground observation. A true Bortle rating needs a human eye at night, this is the closest large-scale substitute.

How far Boise City is from a meaningfully darker sky

Garden City, ID, about 6 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the rural band, one step darker than Boise City. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

Boise City against the rest of the dataset

Boise City, ID counts roughly 237,963 residents, among the 3,206 US cities this site tracks. Among all 3,206 cities here, Boise City ranks 1,172 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured.