South Charleston, WV's night sky, measured from orbit

South Charleston'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. That's brighter than 31.8% 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.

The nearest darker sky to South Charleston

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Portsmouth, OH, roughly 73 miles away in a straight line, rated rural. Road distance will be more.

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

How South Charleston compares nationally

About 13,177 people live in South Charleston, WV, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. South Charleston places 1,016 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.