Springfield, IL's night sky, measured from orbit

Satellite radiance puts Springfield in the urban band. Sky glow overhead most nights. Typically only planets, the Moon, and a handful of the brightest stars are visible. That's brighter than 97.9% 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 Springfield

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Chatham, IL, roughly 8 miles away in a straight line, rated suburban edge. Road distance will be more.

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

How Springfield compares nationally

About 112,949 people live in Springfield, IL, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Springfield places 3,120 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order.