Dickinson, ND's night sky, measured from orbit

Dickinson reads as suburban on this dataset's scale. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. Dickinson's sky is brighter than 60.9% 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.

How far Dickinson is from a meaningfully darker sky

Williston, ND, about 98 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the suburban edge band, one step darker than Dickinson. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

How Dickinson compares nationally

About 25,695 people live in Dickinson, ND, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Dickinson places 1,943 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.