Buda, TX's night sky, measured from orbit

Satellite radiance puts Buda in the suburban edge band. 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 15.9% of the 3,206 US 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.

How far Buda is from a meaningfully darker sky

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Dripping Springs, TX, roughly 17 miles away in a straight line, rated rural. Road distance will be more.

Dripping Springs, 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 Buda compares nationally

About 16,090 people live in Buda, TX, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Buda places 509 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.