Stargaze Atlas

Mississippi dark-sky map — light pollution by town

43 towns rated · darkest: Carriere · measured from VIIRS 2024 satellite night-lights

Mississippi has 43 towns rated for light pollution here, from its darkest — Carriere (Bortle 4) — to its brightest city cores, with 1 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 Mississippi · VIIRS 2024
Towns rated
43

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

Darkest town
Carriere
Genuinely dark towns
1
Certified dark-sky places
0

Nearest certified dark-sky places to Mississippi

No site in Mississippi holds an International Dark Sky Place certification. Measured from Carriere, 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 Carriere, Mississippi.
Place Designation State From Carriere
Buffalo National River Dark Sky Park Arkansas 415 mi
Stephen C. Foster State Park Dark Sky Park Georgia 435 mi
Obed Wild and Scenic River Dark Sky Park Tennessee 475 mi

All Mississippi towns by darkness

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

Mississippi towns, darkest sky first.
Sky Nearest darker sky
Carriere 4 Rural / suburban transition 2.8 already the darkest nearby
Byram 5 Suburban sky 7.6 Carriere — B4, 115 mi
Gautier 6 Bright suburban sky 12 Carriere — B4, 64 mi
Moss Point 6 Bright suburban sky 13 Carriere — B4, 68 mi
Long Beach 6 Bright suburban sky 17 Carriere — B4, 35 mi
Horn Lake 6 Bright suburban sky 17 Byram — B5, 190 mi
Yazoo City 7 Suburban / urban transition 20 Byram — B5, 48 mi
Petal 7 Suburban / urban transition 20 Bogalusa, LA — B6, 52 mi
Ocean Springs 7 Suburban / urban transition 21 Gautier — B6, 13 mi
West Gulfport 7 Suburban / urban transition 24 Long Beach — B6, 5 mi
McComb 7 Suburban / urban transition 25 Bogalusa, LA — B6, 48 mi
Starkville 7 Suburban / urban transition 26 Hueytown, AL — B6, 105 mi
Madison 7 Suburban / urban transition 28 Byram — B5, 21 mi
Natchez 7 Suburban / urban transition 29 Central, LA — B6, 73 mi
Clarksdale 7 Suburban / urban transition 29 Helena-West Helena, AR — B6, 23 mi
Brookhaven 7 Suburban / urban transition 30 Byram — B5, 43 mi
Canton 7 Suburban / urban transition 30 Byram — B5, 32 mi
Hernando 7 Suburban / urban transition 31 Horn Lake — B6, 9 mi
Picayune 7 Suburban / urban transition 32 Carriere — B4, 7 mi
Columbus 7 Suburban / urban transition 33 Hueytown, AL — B6, 83 mi
Brandon 7 Suburban / urban transition 33 Byram — B5, 17 mi
Ridgeland 7 Suburban / urban transition 34 Byram — B5, 18 mi
Hattiesburg 7 Suburban / urban transition 35 Bogalusa, LA — B6, 50 mi
West Point 7 Suburban / urban transition 35 Hueytown, AL — B6, 96 mi
Corinth 7 Suburban / urban transition 36 Arlington, TN — B6, 69 mi
Southaven 7 Suburban / urban transition 37 Horn Lake — B6, 3 mi
Cleveland 7 Suburban / urban transition 38 Helena-West Helena, AR — B6, 55 mi
Olive Branch 7 Suburban / urban transition 39 Horn Lake — B6, 12 mi
Grenada 7 Suburban / urban transition 39 Helena-West Helena, AR — B6, 69 mi
Greenville 8 City sky 41 Cleveland — B7, 30 mi
Oxford 8 City sky 41 Hernando — B7, 42 mi
Pascagoula 8 City sky 42 Moss Point — B6, 3 mi
Clinton 8 City sky 42 Byram — B5, 12 mi
Laurel 8 City sky 44 Petal — B7, 25 mi
Greenwood 8 City sky 47 Grenada — B7, 28 mi
D'Iberville 8 City sky 50 Ocean Springs — B7, 4 mi
Pearl 8 City sky 57 Brandon — B7, 9 mi
Vicksburg 8 City sky 59 Byram — B5, 39 mi
Biloxi 8 City sky 65 Ocean Springs — B7, 4 mi
Meridian 8 City sky 72 Brandon — B7, 75 mi
Gulfport 8 City sky 98 West Gulfport — B7, 3 mi
Tupelo 9 Inner-city sky 102 West Point — B7, 45 mi
Jackson 9 Inner-city sky 122 Pearl — B8, 4 mi

Frequently asked questions

Where are the darkest skies in Mississippi?
The darkest town tracked here is Carriere. 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 Mississippi have?
Of 43 towns rated here, 1 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