Bristol, VA Night Sky Brightness
Bristol, VA's night sky, measured from orbit
Bristol 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. Bristol's sky is brighter than 21.3% 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, explained in the Bortle scale guide.
Where to go for a darker sky near Bristol
Lewisville, NC, about 103 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the rural band, one step darker than Bristol. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.
Lewisville, NC is itself still a measured city, not a designated dark-sky park, this only compares against the 3,206 places this dataset covers.
How Bristol compares nationally
About 16,316 people live in Bristol, VA, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Bristol's position, 679 of 3,206, darkest to brightest, comes from the sampling method the methodology guide sets out.