Redwood City, CA's night sky, measured from orbit

Redwood City reads as rural on this dataset's scale. Little local light dome. Most stars are visible; the Milky Way is faint but often findable away from town lights. Redwood City's sky is brighter than 8.4% 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 Redwood City is from a meaningfully darker sky

Avenal, CA, about 155 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the dark sky band, one step darker than Redwood City. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

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

How Redwood City compares nationally

Redwood City, CA counts roughly 82,982 residents, among the 3,206 US cities this site tracks. Redwood City places 270 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.