Mendota, CA: how dark is the sky here?

Satellite radiance puts Mendota in the suburban band. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. Only 70.3% of the 3,206 cities measured here read darker than Mendota.

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 Mendota

Madera, CA, about 22 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the suburban edge band, one step darker than Mendota. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

Madera, 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 Mendota compares nationally

Mendota, CA counts roughly 12,623 residents, among the 3,206 US cities this site tracks. Mendota places 2,240 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.