Downey, CA Night Sky Brightness
Downey, CA's night sky, measured from orbit
Downey's sky measures urban here. Sky glow overhead most nights. Typically only planets, the Moon, and a handful of the brightest stars are visible. Downey's sky is brighter than 97% 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, explained in the Bortle scale guide.
How far Downey is from a meaningfully darker sky
4 miles from Downey, straight-line, sits Pico Rivera, CA, the nearest city here with a darker sky than Downey's own urban band.
Pico Rivera, 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 Downey compares nationally
Downey, CA has a population of about 109,368, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Downey's position, 3,092 of 3,206, darkest to brightest, comes from the sampling method the methodology guide sets out.