Chico, CA's night sky, measured from orbit

Chico'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. Chico's sky is brighter than 38.9% 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.

Where to go for a darker sky near Chico

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Susanville, CA, roughly 78 miles away in a straight line, rated rural. Road distance will be more.

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

How Chico compares nationally

Chico, CA counts roughly 102,911 residents, among the 3,206 US cities this site tracks. Chico places 1,240 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.