Oakdale, MN Night Sky Brightness
Oakdale, MN's night sky, measured from orbit
Oakdale 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. Oakdale's sky is brighter than 30.9% of the 3,206 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, explained in the Bortle scale guide.
Where to go for a darker sky near Oakdale
The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Lake Elmo, MN, roughly 3 miles away in a straight line, rated rural. Road distance will be more.
Lake Elmo, 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 Oakdale compares nationally
Oakdale, MN has a population of about 30,441, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Oakdale's position, 987 of 3,206, darkest to brightest, comes from the sampling method the methodology guide sets out.