Rochester, NY's night sky, measured from orbit

Rochester's sky measures suburban here. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. That's brighter than 83.2% of the 3,206 US 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.

Where to go for a darker sky near Rochester

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Canandaigua, NY, roughly 26 miles away in a straight line, rated suburban edge. Road distance will be more.

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

How Rochester compares nationally

About 207,282 people live in Rochester, NY, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Rochester places 2,651 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.