North Plainfield, NJ's night sky, measured from orbit

North Plainfield's sky measures suburban here. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. That's brighter than 80.4% of the 3,206 US cities in this dataset.

Note the source: a satellite reading of upward light, not a visual Bortle scale reading. The two measure related but different things.

How far North Plainfield is from a meaningfully darker sky

New Providence, NJ, about 6 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the suburban edge band, one step darker than North Plainfield. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

How North Plainfield compares nationally

About 23,072 people live in North Plainfield, NJ, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. North Plainfield places 2,564 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.