How dark is the sky in Johnston, IA?

Johnston's sky measures rural here. Little local light dome. Most stars are visible; the Milky Way is faint but often findable away from town lights. That's brighter than 7% of the 3,206 US cities in this dataset.

Worth remembering: this is satellite radiance, not a ground observation. A true Bortle rating needs a human eye at night, this is the closest large-scale substitute.

How far Johnston is from a meaningfully darker sky

Red Wing, MN, about 207 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the dark sky band, one step darker than Johnston. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

Johnston against the rest of the dataset

About 25,022 people live in Johnston, IA, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Among all 3,206 cities here, Johnston ranks 223 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured.