Paterson, NJ's night sky, measured from orbit

Paterson reads as inner-city on this dataset's scale. Among the brightest skies in this dataset. Usually just the Moon and a few of the brightest stars or planets cut through. That's brighter than 99.6% 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 Paterson is from a meaningfully darker sky

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Elmwood Park, NJ, roughly 2 miles away in a straight line, rated urban. Road distance will be more.

Elmwood Park, 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 Paterson compares nationally

About 160,463 people live in Paterson, NJ, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Paterson places 3,174 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.