Stargaze Atlas

Iowa dark-sky map — light pollution by town

40 towns rated · darkest: Fort Madison · measured from VIIRS 2024 satellite night-lights

Iowa has 40 towns rated for light pollution here, from its darkest — Fort Madison (Bortle 6) — to its brightest city cores, with 0 rating as genuinely dark or rural sky (Bortle 4 or better). Every town is listed with the nearest measurably darker town to drive to. No site in the state holds an International Dark Sky Place certification, so its darkest skies are the rural towns at the top of the table. Ratings are a VIIRS satellite proxy, not survey-grade sky-brightness readings.

Statewide Iowa · VIIRS 2024
Towns rated
40

0 rate as genuinely dark or rural sky (about Bortle 4 or better).

Darkest town
Fort Madison
Genuinely dark towns
0
Certified dark-sky places
0

Nearest certified dark-sky places to Iowa

No site in Iowa holds an International Dark Sky Place certification. Measured from Fort Madison, the state's darkest rated town, these are the nearest certified destinations — all 92 are on the map.

Nearest certified International Dark Sky Places to Fort Madison, Iowa.
Place Designation State From Fort Madison
Middle Fork River Forest Preserve Dark Sky Park Illinois 175 mi
Homer Glen Dark Sky Community Illinois 190 mi
Beverly Shores Dark Sky Community Indiana 235 mi

All Iowa towns by darkness

Darkest sky first, each with the nearest measurably darker town to drive to. Sort or filter below.

Iowa towns, darkest sky first.
Sky Nearest darker sky
Fort Madison 6 Bright suburban sky 11 Wildwood, MO — B5, 145 mi
Storm Lake 6 Bright suburban sky 16 Minnetonka Mills, MN — B5, 180 mi
Grimes 6 Bright suburban sky 19 Minnetonka Mills, MN — B5, 225 mi
Norwalk 6 Bright suburban sky 19 Fitchburg, WI — B4, 240 mi
Cedar Rapids 7 Suburban / urban transition 21 Fort Madison — B6, 97 mi
Ames 7 Suburban / urban transition 22 Grimes — B6, 26 mi
Cedar Falls 7 Suburban / urban transition 22 Grimes — B6, 90 mi
Urbandale 7 Suburban / urban transition 24 Grimes — B6, 6 mi
Spencer 7 Suburban / urban transition 25 Storm Lake — B6, 35 mi
Boone 7 Suburban / urban transition 26 Grimes — B6, 26 mi
Indianola 7 Suburban / urban transition 26 Norwalk — B6, 10 mi
Waverly 7 Suburban / urban transition 26 Grimes — B6, 98 mi
Marion 7 Suburban / urban transition 27 Fort Madison — B6, 98 mi
Burlington 7 Suburban / urban transition 27 Fort Madison — B6, 16 mi
Waukee 7 Suburban / urban transition 28 Grimes — B6, 7 mi
Altoona 7 Suburban / urban transition 29 Norwalk — B6, 16 mi
North Liberty 7 Suburban / urban transition 29 Fort Madison — B6, 79 mi
West Des Moines 7 Suburban / urban transition 29 Norwalk — B6, 7 mi
Keokuk 7 Suburban / urban transition 31 Fort Madison — B6, 17 mi
Fort Dodge 7 Suburban / urban transition 34 Storm Lake — B6, 54 mi
Muscatine 7 Suburban / urban transition 34 Fort Madison — B6, 57 mi
Clive 7 Suburban / urban transition 34 Grimes — B6, 7 mi
Waterloo 7 Suburban / urban transition 36 Grimes — B6, 93 mi
Newton 7 Suburban / urban transition 36 Norwalk — B6, 36 mi
Bettendorf 7 Suburban / urban transition 36 Fort Madison — B6, 75 mi
Ankeny 7 Suburban / urban transition 37 Grimes — B6, 10 mi
Oskaloosa 7 Suburban / urban transition 38 Norwalk — B6, 55 mi
Coralville 7 Suburban / urban transition 38 Fort Madison — B6, 74 mi
Johnston 7 Suburban / urban transition 39 Grimes — B6, 5 mi
Marshalltown 8 City sky 40 Newton — B7, 25 mi
Ottumwa 8 City sky 41 Oskaloosa — B7, 23 mi
Clinton 8 City sky 42 Sterling, IL — B7, 26 mi
Pella 8 City sky 42 Oskaloosa — B7, 16 mi
Mason City 8 City sky 47 Albert Lea, MN — B7, 35 mi
Council Bluffs 8 City sky 55 Bellevue, NE — B6, 9 mi
Iowa City 8 City sky 66 Coralville — B7, 3 mi
Dubuque 8 City sky 80 Platteville, WI — B7, 19 mi
Des Moines 8 City sky 84 West Des Moines — B7, 6 mi
Davenport 8 City sky 86 Bettendorf — B7, 3 mi
Sioux City 9 Inner-city sky 133 South Sioux City, NE — B7, 2 mi

Frequently asked questions

Where are the darkest skies in Iowa?
The darkest town tracked here is Fort Madison. 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 Iowa have?
Of 40 towns rated here, 0 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.

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Bortle scale · Meteor showers · Dark-sky map · Search all towns