Hayward, CA's night sky, measured from orbit

Hayward reads as suburban on this dataset's scale. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. Only 70.3% of the 3,206 cities measured here read darker than Hayward.

Note the source: a satellite reading of upward light, not a visual Bortle scale reading. The two measure related but different things.

The nearest darker sky to Hayward

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Union City, CA, roughly 5 miles away in a straight line, rated suburban edge. Road distance will be more.

Union City, 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 Hayward compares nationally

Hayward, CA has a population of about 158,440, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Hayward places 2,242 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.