Hickory, NC: how dark is the sky here?

Satellite radiance puts Hickory in the suburban band. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. That's brighter than 67.5% 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.

The nearest darker sky to Hickory

Newton, NC, about 7 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the suburban edge band, one step darker than Hickory. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

How Hickory compares nationally

Hickory, NC has a population of about 45,081, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Hickory places 2,152 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.