Cary, NC: how dark is the sky here?

Cary's sky measures suburban edge here. 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 30% of the 3,206 US 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.

Where to go for a darker sky near Cary

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Fuquay-Varina, NC, roughly 12 miles away in a straight line, rated rural. Road distance will be more.

Fuquay-Varina, 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 Cary compares nationally

About 182,659 people live in Cary, NC, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Cary places 957 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.