Clayton, NC Night Sky Brightness
How dark is the sky in Clayton, NC?
Clayton 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 9.6% 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, covered fully in the Bortle scale guide.
The nearest darker sky to Clayton
Suffolk, VA, about 124 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the dark sky band, one step darker than Clayton. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.
Suffolk, VA is itself still a measured city, not a designated dark-sky park, this only compares against the 3,206 places this dataset covers.
Clayton against the rest of the dataset
Clayton, NC has a population of about 31,732, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Ranked against the other 3,206 cities here by the methodology guide's own sampling, Clayton comes in at 308, darkest to brightest.