Los Altos, CA: how dark is the sky here?

Satellite radiance puts Los Altos in the rural band. Little local light dome. Most stars are visible; the Milky Way is faint but often findable away from town lights. Los Altos's sky is brighter than 11.1% 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 Los Altos is from a meaningfully darker sky

Avenal, CA, about 143 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the dark sky band, one step darker than Los Altos. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

How Los Altos compares nationally

Los Altos, CA has a population of about 30,864, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Los Altos places 354 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.