How dark is the sky across the Cleveland metro?

It varies by how close you are to the core. Cleveland itself reads about Bortle 9; the 70 towns in this light dome range down to Vermilion-on-the-Lake at roughly Bortle 6, about 33 mi from the core. The table above sorts every town in the metro by measured darkness.

Where's the nearest certified dark-sky destination to Cleveland?

Lake Hudson State Recreation Area (Dark-sky preserve), about 135 mi away.

Cleveland, OH — light pollution & stargazing across the metro

Ohio · Very poor — city glow · 70 towns · 2,193,406 people in this light dome

The Cleveland, OH light dome covers 70 towns and about 2,193,406 people rated together, reading roughly Bortle 9 — a inner-city sky (very poor — city glow) — at Cleveland itself, measured from VIIRS 2024 satellite night-lights. The darkest edge of this same dome is Vermilion-on-the-Lake, about 33 mi out, at roughly Bortle 6. The nearest certified dark-sky destination is Lake Hudson State Recreation Area, about 135 mi away. Tonight's Moon phase, cloud cover, and aurora odds load live below, computed in your browser.

1–2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

← darker sky You: Bortle 9 · Inner-city sky brighter →

Stargazing at the Cleveland core tonight

Light-pollution reading — dome core Cleveland, OH · VIIRS 2024

Estimated Bortle class (core): 9 of 9
VIIRS radiance (core): 203 nW/cm²/sr
Naked-eye limiting mag. (core): under 4.1
Darkest edge of this dome: Vermilion-on-the-Lake · B6 · 33 mi

What you can see from the Cleveland core

Only the Moon, the bright planets, and a scattering of the very brightest stars pierce the glow. For real stargazing you'll want to drive to a darker site.

At an estimated Bortle 9, the faintest stars visible from Cleveland itself on a clear, moonless night run to about magnitude 4.0 or brighter, and the Milky Way is not visible. Vermilion-on-the-Lake is a regional drive away (33 mi) and improves to roughly Bortle 6.

Of the 70 towns rated in this dome, most read Bortle 7 (37 towns) — spread across 4 darkness classes overall. Beyond Cleveland itself, Akron, Parma, Lorain round out the largest towns sharing this same light dome.

The sky from 41.5°N

Declination above +48.5° never sets here, and below −48.5° never rises — no matter how clear the night or how long you wait.

Never sets: Polaris, the Big Dipper
Never rises: Canopus, Alpha Centauri, the Southern Cross
Skims the southern horizon: the Milky Way core (peaks 20° up), Fomalhaut (peaks 19° up)
Milky Way core: culminates 19.5° above the southern horizon — it sits low in the south, so a clear, unobstructed southern horizon matters more here than darkness overhead.
Longest night: 15 h 00 m at the December solstice, 9 h in June.
Midsummer: the Sun reaches only 25.1° below the horizon at solar midnight in June — past the 18° astronomical-night mark.

Geometric, from 41.499°N, 81.695°W. How these are computed.

Every town in this light dome, darkest first

All 70 towns inside Cleveland's ~35-mile dome, each with its own measured reading.

Cleveland metro towns, darkest sky first.
Town	State	Bortle	Sky	Radiance
Vermilion-on-the-Lake	OH	6	Bright suburban sky	8.3
Seven Hills	OH	6	Bright suburban sky	9.9
Richmond Heights	OH	6	Bright suburban sky	10
Stow	OH	6	Bright suburban sky	13
Wickliffe	OH	6	Bright suburban sky	13
North Ridgeville	OH	6	Bright suburban sky	14
Avon Lake	OH	6	Bright suburban sky	14
Avon	OH	6	Bright suburban sky	15
Eastlake	OH	6	Bright suburban sky	15
Copley	OH	6	Bright suburban sky	16
Westlake	OH	6	Bright suburban sky	17
North Royalton	OH	6	Bright suburban sky	18
Aurora	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	20
Parma	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	21
Lorain	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	21
Bay Village	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	22
Mentor	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	23
Willowick	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	23
Amherst	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	23
Brook Park	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	24
Wadsworth	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	24
Broadview Heights	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	24
Fairview Park	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	24
Brecksville	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	24
Medina	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	25
Berea	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	27
Macedonia	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	27
Hudson	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	27
Lyndhurst	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	27
Rocky River	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	28
Norton	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	28
Willoughby	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	28
Ravenna	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	29
Brunswick	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	30
Streetsboro	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	30
Middleburg Heights	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	31
Parma Heights	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	32
North Olmsted	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	32
Bedford	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	33
Glenville	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	33
Twinsburg	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	33
Strongsville	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	34
Garfield Heights	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	34
Shaker Heights	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	36
Lakewood	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	36
Collinwood	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	37
Kent	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	38
East Cleveland	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	39
Brooklyn	OH	7	Suburban / urban transition	39
Avon Center	OH	8	City sky	40
South Euclid	OH	8	City sky	42
Beachwood	OH	8	City sky	42
Barberton	OH	8	City sky	43
University Heights	OH	8	City sky	43
Euclid	OH	8	City sky	43
Cleveland Heights	OH	8	City sky	44
Cuyahoga Falls	OH	8	City sky	46
Maple Heights	OH	8	City sky	46
Mayfield Heights	OH	8	City sky	46
Tallmadge	OH	8	City sky	46
Clark-Fulton	OH	8	City sky	47
Elyria	OH	8	City sky	52
Detroit-Shoreway	OH	8	City sky	52
Painesville	OH	8	City sky	54
Solon	OH	8	City sky	58
Bedford Heights	OH	8	City sky	59
Hough	OH	8	City sky	65
Warrensville Heights	OH	8	City sky	68
Akron	OH	9	Inner-city sky	112
Cleveland	OH	9	Inner-city sky	203

Certified dark-sky destinations near Cleveland

Certified International Dark Sky Places within reach of Cleveland — nearest first.
Place	Designation	Distance
Lake Hudson State Recreation Area	Dark-sky preserve	135 mi
Cherry Springs State Park	Dark Sky Park	200 mi
Potawatomi Wildlife Park	Dark-sky preserve	230 mi
Negwegon State Park	Dark-sky preserve	245 mi

Other light domes near Cleveland

Detroit, MI (90 mi, core Bortle 9) , Pittsburgh, PA (115 mi, core Bortle 9) , and Columbus, OH (125 mi, core Bortle 9) are the closest other metro-scale domes tracked here — each with its own core reading and its own darkest edge.

Frequently asked questions

Can you see the Milky Way from Cleveland?: Not from Cleveland itself — at about Bortle 9 the dome is too bright. The darkest edge of the same metro is Vermilion-on-the-Lake, about 33 mi out at roughly Bortle 6, or drive to the certified Lake Hudson State Recreation Area (135 mi) for a genuinely dark sky.
How dark is the sky across the Cleveland metro?: It varies by how close you are to the core. Cleveland itself reads about Bortle 9; the 70 towns in this light dome range down to Vermilion-on-the-Lake at roughly Bortle 6, about 33 mi from the core. The table above sorts every town in the metro by measured darkness.
Where's the nearest certified dark-sky destination to Cleveland?: Lake Hudson State Recreation Area (Dark-sky preserve), about 135 mi away.

How to read this rating

A satellite proxy, not a survey-grade reading. Sources and limits.

More in Ohio

All Ohio towns · Bortle scale · Tonight's Moon · Dark-sky map