Charleston, WV Night Sky Brightness
Charleston, WV's night sky, measured from orbit
Charleston reads as inner-city on this dataset's scale. Among the brightest skies in this dataset. Usually just the Moon and a few of the brightest stars or planets cut through. That's brighter than 99.5% 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, explained in the Bortle scale guide.
Where to go for a darker sky near Charleston
The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is South Charleston, WV, roughly 4 miles away in a straight line, rated suburban edge. Road distance will be more.
South Charleston, WV is itself still a measured city, not a designated dark-sky park, this only compares against the 3,206 places this dataset covers.
How Charleston compares nationally
Charleston, WV has a population of about 46,482, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Charleston's position, 3,173 of 3,206, darkest to brightest, comes from the sampling method the methodology guide sets out.