Philadelphia, PA's night sky, measured from orbit

Philadelphia's sky measures urban here. Sky glow overhead most nights. Typically only planets, the Moon, and a handful of the brightest stars are visible. Philadelphia's sky is brighter than 97.6% 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.

How far Philadelphia is from a meaningfully darker sky

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Collingswood, NJ, roughly 7 miles away in a straight line, rated suburban. Road distance will be more.

Collingswood, 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 Philadelphia compares nationally

Philadelphia, PA has a population of about 1,573,916, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Philadelphia places 3,110 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.