San Rafael, CA: how dark is the sky here?

San Rafael's sky measures suburban edge here. A noticeable glow near the horizon. Brighter stars and constellations are easy to pick out; the Milky Way is washed out. San Rafael's sky is brighter than 15.2% of the 3,206 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 San Rafael

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is San Anselmo, CA, roughly 3 miles away in a straight line, rated rural. Road distance will be more.

San Anselmo, 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 San Rafael compares nationally

About 59,961 people live in San Rafael, CA, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. San Rafael places 487 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.