Elk River, MN Night Sky Brightness
Elk River, MN's night sky, measured from orbit
Elk River reads as rural on this dataset's scale. Little local light dome. Most stars are visible; the Milky Way is faint but often findable away from town lights. Only 3.6% of the 3,206 cities measured here read darker than Elk River.
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.
The nearest darker sky to Elk River
Otsego, MN, about 5 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the dark sky band, one step darker than Elk River. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.
Otsego, MN is itself still a measured city, not a designated dark-sky park, this only compares against the 3,206 places this dataset covers.
How Elk River compares nationally
About 27,606 people live in Elk River, MN, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Elk River's position, 117 of 3,206, darkest to brightest, comes from the sampling method the methodology guide sets out.