Soledad, CA: how dark is the sky here?

Soledad'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. Soledad's sky is brighter than 26.2% 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.

The nearest darker sky to Soledad

Seaside, CA, about 31 miles away as the crow flies, measures in the rural band, one step darker than Soledad. Actual driving distance will run longer than that straight-line figure.

Seaside, 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 Soledad compares nationally

About 26,345 people live in Soledad, CA, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Soledad places 835 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.