What the night sky looks like over Tacoma, WA

Tacoma's sky measures suburban here. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. That's brighter than 81.4% of the 3,206 US cities in this dataset.

The number comes from orbit, not a stargazer's logbook, so treat it as an estimate of sky glow rather than a certified Bortle class.

The nearest darker sky to Tacoma

The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is University Place, WA, roughly 5 miles away in a straight line, rated suburban edge. Road distance will be more.

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

Tacoma against the rest of the dataset

About 228,202 people live in Tacoma, WA, sized enough to appear in this dataset of 3,206 incorporated US cities. Among all 3,206 cities here, Tacoma ranks 2,596 from darkest to brightest, 1 being the darkest measured.