Payson, UT Night Sky Brightness
How dark is the sky in Payson, UT?
Payson's sky measures suburban edge here. A noticeable glow near the horizon. Brighter stars and constellations are easy to pick out; the Milky Way is washed out. That's brighter than 29.2% of the 3,206 US cities in this dataset.
Worth remembering: this is satellite radiance, not a ground observation. A true Bortle rating needs a human eye at night, this is the closest large-scale substitute, covered fully in the Bortle scale guide.
The nearest darker sky to Payson
5 miles from Payson, straight-line, sits Santaquin, UT, the nearest city here with a darker sky than Payson's own suburban edge band.
Santaquin, UT is itself still a measured city, not a designated dark-sky park, this only compares against the 3,206 places this dataset covers.
Payson against the rest of the dataset
About 24,666 people live in Payson, UT, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Ranked against the other 3,206 cities here by the methodology guide's own sampling, Payson comes in at 934, darkest to brightest.