How dark is the sky in Carlsbad, NM?

Carlsbad reads as rural on this dataset's scale. Little local light dome. Most stars are visible; the Milky Way is faint but often findable away from town lights. That's brighter than 7.8% 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 Carlsbad is from a meaningfully darker sky

Los Lunas, NM, about 221 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the dark sky band, one step darker than Carlsbad. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

Carlsbad against the rest of the dataset

Carlsbad, NM has a population of about 31,999, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Among all 3,206 cities here, Carlsbad ranks 251 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured.