Mason City, IA: how dark is the sky here?

Mason City's sky measures suburban here. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. Only 85.1% of the 3,206 cities measured here read darker than Mason City.

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.

Where to go for a darker sky near Mason City

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Albert Lea, MN, roughly 36 miles away in a straight line, rated suburban edge. Road distance will be more.

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

How Mason City compares nationally

About 26,948 people live in Mason City, IA, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Mason City places 2,714 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.