Stargaze Atlas

St. Louis, MO — light pollution & stargazing across the metro

Missouri · Very poor — city glow · 54 towns · 1,542,149 people in this light dome

The St. Louis, MO light dome covers 54 towns and about 1,542,149 people rated together, reading roughly Bortle 9 — a inner-city sky (very poor — city glow) — at St. Louis itself, measured from VIIRS 2024 satellite night-lights. The darkest edge of this same dome is Wildwood, about 25 mi out, at roughly Bortle 5. The nearest certified dark-sky destination is Middle Fork River Forest Preserve, about 170 mi away. Tonight's Moon phase, cloud cover, and aurora odds load live below, computed in your browser.

Stargazing at the St. Louis core tonight

Light-pollution reading — dome core St. Louis, MO · VIIRS 2024
Estimated Bortle class (core)
9 of 9

Inner-city sky.

VIIRS radiance (core)
247 nW/cm²/sr
Naked-eye limiting mag. (core)
under 4.1
Darkest edge of this dome
Wildwood · B5 · 25 mi

What you can see from the St. Louis 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 St. Louis itself on a clear, moonless night run to about magnitude 4.0 or brighter, and the Milky Way is not visible. Wildwood is a regional drive away (25 mi) and improves to roughly Bortle 5.

Of the 54 towns rated in this dome, most read Bortle 7 (25 towns) — spread across 5 darkness classes overall. Beyond St. Louis itself, O'Fallon, Saint Charles, Saint Peters round out the largest towns sharing this same light dome.

The sky from 38.6°N

Declination above +51.4° never sets here, and below −51.4° never rises — no matter how clear the night or how long you wait.

Geometric, from 38.627°N, 90.198°W. How these are computed.

Every town in this light dome, darkest first

All 54 towns inside St. Louis's ~35-mile dome, each with its own measured reading.

St. Louis metro towns, darkest sky first.
Town State Bortle Sky Radiance
Wildwood MO 5 Suburban sky 4.0
Old Jamestown MO 6 Bright suburban sky 8.0
Glen Carbon IL 6 Bright suburban sky 9.0
Lake Saint Louis MO 6 Bright suburban sky 10
Bridgeton MO 6 Bright suburban sky 12
Creve Coeur MO 6 Bright suburban sky 12
Spanish Lake MO 6 Bright suburban sky 14
Shiloh IL 6 Bright suburban sky 15
Bellefontaine Neighbors MO 6 Bright suburban sky 15
Dardenne Prairie MO 6 Bright suburban sky 16
Troy IL 6 Bright suburban sky 16
Wood River IL 6 Bright suburban sky 20
Florissant MO 7 Suburban / urban transition 20
Godfrey IL 7 Suburban / urban transition 21
Town and Country MO 7 Suburban / urban transition 22
Webster Groves MO 7 Suburban / urban transition 24
Cahokia IL 7 Suburban / urban transition 24
Affton MO 7 Suburban / urban transition 25
Swansea IL 7 Suburban / urban transition 26
Collinsville IL 7 Suburban / urban transition 26
Arnold MO 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
Overland MO 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
Eureka MO 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
Waterloo IL 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
Columbia IL 7 Suburban / urban transition 28
Lemay MO 7 Suburban / urban transition 29
Saint Ann MO 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Upper Alton IL 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Ferguson MO 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Clayton MO 7 Suburban / urban transition 31
Chesterfield MO 7 Suburban / urban transition 32
O'Fallon IL 7 Suburban / urban transition 33
Jennings MO 7 Suburban / urban transition 33
Oakville MO 7 Suburban / urban transition 35
Edwardsville IL 7 Suburban / urban transition 36
Festus MO 7 Suburban / urban transition 37
O'Fallon MO 7 Suburban / urban transition 38
Saint Charles MO 8 City sky 40
Kirkwood MO 8 City sky 42
Crestwood MO 8 City sky 45
Alton IL 8 City sky 46
Ballwin MO 8 City sky 48
Maryland Heights MO 8 City sky 52
Fairview Heights IL 8 City sky 53
Concord MO 8 City sky 55
Mehlville MO 8 City sky 55
Belleville IL 8 City sky 58
East Saint Louis IL 8 City sky 58
Manchester MO 8 City sky 59
University City MO 8 City sky 62
Hazelwood MO 8 City sky 63
Saint Peters MO 8 City sky 68
Granite City IL 8 City sky 75
St. Louis MO 9 Inner-city sky 247

Certified dark-sky destinations near St. Louis

Certified International Dark Sky Places within reach of St. Louis — nearest first.
PlaceDesignationDistance
Middle Fork River Forest Preserve Dark Sky Park 170 mi
Buffalo National River Dark Sky Park 235 mi
Homer Glen Dark Sky Community 235 mi

Other light domes near St. Louis

Indianapolis, IN (230 mi, core Bortle 9) , Kansas City, MO (240 mi, core Bortle 9) , and Aurora, IL (240 mi, core Bortle 8) 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 St. Louis?
Not from St. Louis itself — at about Bortle 9 the dome is too bright. The darkest edge of the same metro is Wildwood, about 25 mi out at roughly Bortle 5, or drive to the certified Middle Fork River Forest Preserve (170 mi) for a genuinely dark sky.
How dark is the sky across the St. Louis metro?
It varies by how close you are to the core. St. Louis itself reads about Bortle 9; the 54 towns in this light dome range down to Wildwood at roughly Bortle 5, about 25 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 St. Louis?
Middle Fork River Forest Preserve (Dark Sky Park), about 170 mi away.
How to read this rating

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

More in Missouri

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