Lakeland, TN: how dark is the sky here?

Lakeland reads as suburban edge on this dataset's scale. A noticeable glow near the horizon. Brighter stars and constellations are easy to pick out; the Milky Way is washed out. Lakeland's sky is brighter than 13.5% of the 3,206 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.

How far Lakeland is from a meaningfully darker sky

12 miles from Lakeland, straight-line, sits Atoka, TN, the nearest city here with a darker sky than Lakeland's own suburban edge band.

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

How Lakeland compares nationally

Lakeland, TN has a population of about 14,416, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Lakeland places 432 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.