Lake Zurich, IL: how dark is the sky here?

Lake Zurich'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 43% of the 3,206 cities measured here read darker than Lake Zurich.

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.

How far Lake Zurich is from a meaningfully darker sky

6 miles from Lake Zurich, straight-line, sits Wauconda, IL, the nearest city here with a darker sky than Lake Zurich's own suburban edge band.

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

How Lake Zurich compares nationally

Lake Zurich, IL has a population of about 19,960, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Lake Zurich places 1,373 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.