Coalinga, CA: how dark is the sky here?

Coalinga 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. Coalinga's sky is brighter than 8.3% of the 3,206 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.

How far Coalinga is from a meaningfully darker sky

Avenal, CA, about 14 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the dark sky band, one step darker than Coalinga. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

Avenal, 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 Coalinga compares nationally

Coalinga, CA counts roughly 16,722 residents, among the 3,206 US cities this site tracks. Coalinga places 265 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.