Effingham, IL: how dark is the sky here?

Effingham's sky measures urban here. Sky glow overhead most nights. Typically only planets, the Moon, and a handful of the brightest stars are visible. That's brighter than 95.9% of the 3,206 US 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 Effingham is from a meaningfully darker sky

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Mattoon, IL, roughly 27 miles away in a straight line, rated suburban. Road distance will be more.

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

How Effingham compares nationally

Effingham, IL counts roughly 12,434 residents, among the 3,206 US cities this site tracks. Effingham places 3,057 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.