Rockville, MD's night sky, measured from orbit

Rockville reads as suburban on this dataset's scale. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. That's brighter than 84.5% 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 Rockville

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is New Carrollton, MD, roughly 17 miles away in a straight line, rated suburban edge. Road distance will be more.

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

How Rockville compares nationally

About 68,417 people live in Rockville, MD, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Rockville places 2,695 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.