Arizona dark-sky map — light pollution by town
Arizona has 68 towns rated for light pollution here, from its darkest — Sierra Vista Southeast (Bortle 4) — to its brightest city cores. 6 rate as genuinely dark or rural sky (Bortle 4 or better). Sort the table by darkness to find the best stargazing near you, then open any town for its exact rating, what you can see, the nearest darker skies to drive to, and tonight's live Moon, cloud, and aurora conditions. Ratings are a VIIRS satellite proxy for planning, not survey-grade sky-brightness readings.
- Towns rated
- 68
- Darkest town
- Sierra Vista Southeast
- Genuinely dark towns
- 5
5 rate as genuinely dark or rural sky (about Bortle 4 or better).
All Arizona towns by darkness
Darkest sky first. Click a column heading to sort, or filter by name. A satellite reading, not a survey-grade measurement — and the real dark skies are usually a short drive out of any town.
| Sky | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sierra Vista Southeast | 4 | Rural / suburban transition | 1.0 |
| Saddlebrooke | 4 | Rural / suburban transition | 1.1 |
| Gold Camp | 4 | Rural / suburban transition | 1.6 |
| Verde Village | 4 | Rural / suburban transition | 2.1 |
| New River | 4 | Rural / suburban transition | 2.8 |
| Marana | 5 | Suburban sky | 3.1 |
| Sahuarita | 5 | Suburban sky | 3.2 |
| Rio Rico | 5 | Suburban sky | 3.4 |
| Tanque Verde | 5 | Suburban sky | 4.8 |
| Catalina Foothills | 5 | Suburban sky | 5.3 |
| Gold Canyon | 5 | Suburban sky | 5.6 |
| Camp Verde | 5 | Suburban sky | 7.1 |
| Chino Valley | 5 | Suburban sky | 7.3 |
| Tucson Estates | 5 | Suburban sky | 7.9 |
| New Kingman-Butler | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 8.0 |
| Casas Adobes | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 9.2 |
| Vail | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 9.2 |
| Prescott Valley | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 9.4 |
| Arizona City | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 9.8 |
| Cottonwood | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 9.8 |
| Sedona | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 10 |
| Green Valley | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 11 |
| West Sedona | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 11 |
| Oro Valley | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 12 |
| Sun Lakes | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 13 |
| Fortuna Foothills | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 14 |
| Sun City West | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 15 |
| Show Low | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 16 |
| Drexel Heights | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 16 |
| Payson | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 18 |
| Coolidge | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 19 |
| Florence | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 19 |
| Sun City | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 21 |
| Kingman | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 21 |
| Paradise Valley | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 22 |
| Flowing Wells | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 23 |
| Tucson | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 23 |
| Sierra Vista | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 24 |
| Lake Havasu City | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 24 |
| Eloy | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 25 |
| Buckeye | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 26 |
| Douglas | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 26 |
| Fountain Hills | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 26 |
| Flagstaff | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 27 |
| Casa Grande | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 28 |
| Maricopa | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 29 |
| Scottsdale | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 30 |
| Somerton | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 31 |
| Prescott | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 34 |
| Nogales | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 34 |
| El Mirage | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 35 |
| Gilbert | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 37 |
| Surprise | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 39 |
| Apache Junction | 8 | City sky | 42 |
| Queen Creek | 8 | City sky | 48 |
| Bullhead City | 8 | City sky | 50 |
| Glendale | 8 | City sky | 51 |
| Yuma | 8 | City sky | 51 |
| Peoria | 8 | City sky | 51 |
| Avondale | 8 | City sky | 53 |
| Tempe Junction | 8 | City sky | 53 |
| Mesa | 8 | City sky | 56 |
| Chandler | 8 | City sky | 73 |
| Goodyear | 8 | City sky | 73 |
| San Luis | 8 | City sky | 85 |
| Tempe | 8 | City sky | 86 |
| Phoenix | 9 | Inner-city sky | 156 |
| San Tan Valley | 4 | Rural / suburban transition | 2.3 |
Frequently asked questions
- Where are the darkest skies in Arizona?
- The darkest town tracked here is Sierra Vista Southeast. Sort the table on this page by darkness to see the full ranking, from the most rural, star-filled skies down to the brightest city cores.
- How many dark-sky towns does Arizona have?
- Of 68 towns rated here, 6 rate as genuinely dark or rural sky (about Bortle 4 or better) — good for seeing the Milky Way on a clear, moonless night.
- How are these light-pollution ratings measured?
- From VIIRS 2024 annual-average satellite night-lights, sampled at each town's center and mapped to a darkness class and an estimated Bortle band. It is a satellite upward-radiance proxy for planning, not a survey-grade sky-brightness reading. See the methodology page for details.
Explore
Learn to read the Bortle scale, check the meteor shower calendar, or search all towns from the home page.