Harlingen, TX's night sky, measured from orbit

Satellite radiance puts Harlingen in the urban band. Sky glow overhead most nights. Typically only planets, the Moon, and a handful of the brightest stars are visible. Harlingen's sky is brighter than 85.4% 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.

Where to go for a darker sky near Harlingen

San Benito, TX, about 5 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the suburban band, one step darker than Harlingen. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

How Harlingen compares nationally

Harlingen, TX has a population of about 72,234, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Harlingen places 2,722 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.