Independence, MO's night sky, measured from orbit

Independence's sky measures suburban edge here. A noticeable glow near the horizon. Brighter stars and constellations are easy to pick out; the Milky Way is washed out. Only 12.6% of the 3,206 cities measured here read darker than Independence.

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 Independence

Smithville, MO, about 24 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the rural band, one step darker than Independence. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

How Independence compares nationally

Independence, MO has a population of about 121,629, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Independence places 402 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.