Topeka, KS Night Sky Brightness
Topeka, KS: how dark is the sky here?
Topeka reads as suburban on this dataset's scale. Light dome dominates much of the sky. Only the brightest stars and planets stand out clearly. That's brighter than 84.8% of the 3,206 US 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 - see the Bortle scale guide for where they can disagree.
How far Topeka is from a meaningfully darker sky
The closest place in this dataset with a meaningfully darker sky is Ottawa, KS, roughly 38 miles away in a straight line, rated suburban edge. Road distance will be more.
Ottawa, KS is itself still a measured city, not a designated dark-sky park, this only compares against the 3,206 places this dataset covers.
How Topeka compares nationally
Topeka, KS has a population of about 125,467, one of 3,206 US cities of 10,000 or more residents in this dataset. Topeka places 2,705 of 3,206 cities in this dataset's darkest-to-brightest order, ranked by the method in the methodology guide.