Gary, IN: how dark is the sky here?

Gary reads as suburban on this dataset's scale. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. Gary's sky is brighter than 56.8% of the 3,206 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 Gary is from a meaningfully darker sky

Lake Station, IN, about 5 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the suburban edge band, one step darker than Gary. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

How Gary compares nationally

Gary, IN has a population of about 67,555, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Gary places 1,812 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.