What the night sky looks like over Kinston, NC

Kinston'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. Kinston's sky is brighter than 23.8% of the 3,206 cities in this dataset.

The number comes from orbit, not a stargazer's logbook, so treat it as an estimate of sky glow rather than a certified Bortle class.

The nearest darker sky to Kinston

New Bern, NC, about 32 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the rural band, one step darker than Kinston. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

Kinston against the rest of the dataset

Kinston, NC counts roughly 19,519 residents, among the 3,206 US cities this site tracks. Among all 3,206 cities here, Kinston ranks 761 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured.