Des Moines, WA: how dark is the sky here?

Satellite radiance puts Des Moines in the suburban edge band. A noticeable glow near the horizon. Brighter stars and constellations are easy to pick out; the Milky Way is washed out. Only 26.9% of the 3,206 cities measured here read darker than Des Moines.

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 Des Moines is from a meaningfully darker sky

13 miles from Des Moines, straight-line, sits Mercer Island, WA, the nearest city here with a darker sky than Des Moines's own suburban edge band.

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

How Des Moines compares nationally

About 33,207 people live in Des Moines, WA, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Des Moines places 860 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.