Portage, MI's night sky, measured from orbit

Portage's sky measures suburban here. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. Only 49.6% of the 3,206 cities measured here read darker than Portage.

Note the source: a satellite reading of upward light, not a visual Bortle scale reading. The two measure related but different things.

The nearest darker sky to Portage

Coldwater, MI, about 35 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the suburban edge band, one step darker than Portage. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

How Portage compares nationally

Portage, MI has a population of about 49,975, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Portage places 1,583 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.