What the night sky looks like over Detroit, MI

Satellite radiance puts Detroit in the suburban band. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. That's brighter than 83.3% of the 3,206 US cities in this dataset.

The number comes from orbit, not a stargazer's logbook, so treat it as an estimate of sky glow rather than a certified Bortle class.

How far Detroit is from a meaningfully darker sky

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Royal Oak, MI, roughly 9 miles away in a straight line, rated suburban edge. Road distance will be more.

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

Detroit against the rest of the dataset

About 645,705 people live in Detroit, MI, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Among all 3,206 cities here, Detroit ranks 2,657 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured.