Phoenix, AZ: how dark is the sky here?

Satellite radiance puts Phoenix in the urban band. Sky glow overhead most nights. Typically only planets, the Moon, and a handful of the brightest stars are visible. That's brighter than 86.9% of the 3,206 US cities in this dataset.

This comes from a satellite measuring light radiating upward, not a person's eyes on the ground, so it isn't the same as a Bortle class, though the two track each other closely.

Where to go for a darker sky near Phoenix

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Paradise Valley, AZ, roughly 8 miles away in a straight line, rated suburban edge. Road distance will be more.

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

How Phoenix compares nationally

About 1,673,164 people live in Phoenix, AZ, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Phoenix places 2,770 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.