Stargaze Atlas

Ohio dark-sky map — light pollution by town

195 towns rated · darkest: New Franklin · measured from VIIRS 2024 satellite night-lights

Ohio has 195 towns rated for light pollution here, from its darkest — New Franklin (Bortle 5) — to its brightest city cores. 0 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.

Statewide Ohio · VIIRS 2024
Towns rated
195

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

Darkest town
New Franklin
Genuinely dark towns
0

All Ohio 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.

Ohio towns, darkest sky first.
Sky
New Franklin 5 Suburban sky 4.1
Green 5 Suburban sky 5.6
Clayton 5 Suburban sky 5.9
Beavercreek 5 Suburban sky 7.8
Vermilion-on-the-Lake 6 Bright suburban sky 8.3
Trotwood 6 Bright suburban sky 8.9
Pataskala 6 Bright suburban sky 9.6
Seven Hills 6 Bright suburban sky 9.9
Richmond Heights 6 Bright suburban sky 10
Goshen 6 Bright suburban sky 10
Pickerington 6 Bright suburban sky 11
Lewis Center 6 Bright suburban sky 11
Mack 6 Bright suburban sky 11
Bridgetown 6 Bright suburban sky 12
Maumee 6 Bright suburban sky 12
Stow 6 Bright suburban sky 13
Vermilion 6 Bright suburban sky 13
Wickliffe 6 Bright suburban sky 13
Sylvania 6 Bright suburban sky 14
Trenton 6 Bright suburban sky 14
North Ridgeville 6 Bright suburban sky 14
Monroe 6 Bright suburban sky 14
White Oak 6 Bright suburban sky 14
Avon Lake 6 Bright suburban sky 14
Forest Park 6 Bright suburban sky 14
Avon 6 Bright suburban sky 15
Eastlake 6 Bright suburban sky 15
Copley 6 Bright suburban sky 16
Conneaut 6 Bright suburban sky 16
Finneytown 6 Bright suburban sky 16
West Carrollton City 6 Bright suburban sky 16
Norwalk 6 Bright suburban sky 16
Galion 6 Bright suburban sky 16
Huber Heights 6 Bright suburban sky 17
Westlake 6 Bright suburban sky 17
Centerville 6 Bright suburban sky 17
Franklin 6 Bright suburban sky 17
Springboro 6 Bright suburban sky 18
Powell 6 Bright suburban sky 18
Shiloh 6 Bright suburban sky 18
North Royalton 6 Bright suburban sky 18
Defiance 6 Bright suburban sky 18
Loveland 6 Bright suburban sky 18
Urbana 6 Bright suburban sky 18
Struthers 6 Bright suburban sky 19
Wilmington 6 Bright suburban sky 19
Perrysburg 6 Bright suburban sky 19
Kettering 6 Bright suburban sky 20
Aurora 7 Suburban / urban transition 20
Mason 7 Suburban / urban transition 20
Parma 7 Suburban / urban transition 21
Sidney 7 Suburban / urban transition 21
Lorain 7 Suburban / urban transition 21
Englewood 7 Suburban / urban transition 21
Northbrook 7 Suburban / urban transition 21
London 7 Suburban / urban transition 22
Riverside 7 Suburban / urban transition 22
Miamisburg 7 Suburban / urban transition 22
Bay Village 7 Suburban / urban transition 22
Mentor 7 Suburban / urban transition 23
Willowick 7 Suburban / urban transition 23
Worthington 7 Suburban / urban transition 23
Amherst 7 Suburban / urban transition 23
Washington Court House 7 Suburban / urban transition 23
Ashtabula 7 Suburban / urban transition 24
Brook Park 7 Suburban / urban transition 24
Wadsworth 7 Suburban / urban transition 24
Broadview Heights 7 Suburban / urban transition 24
Fairview Park 7 Suburban / urban transition 24
Brecksville 7 Suburban / urban transition 24
Bellefontaine 7 Suburban / urban transition 25
Medina 7 Suburban / urban transition 25
Gahanna 7 Suburban / urban transition 26
Greenville 7 Suburban / urban transition 26
Reynoldsburg 7 Suburban / urban transition 26
Alliance 7 Suburban / urban transition 26
North Canton 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
Berea 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
Cambridge 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
Coshocton 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
Macedonia 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
Hudson 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
Steubenville 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
Van Wert 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
Fairfield 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
Lyndhurst 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
Dent 7 Suburban / urban transition 28
Rocky River 7 Suburban / urban transition 28
Bexley 7 Suburban / urban transition 28
Norton 7 Suburban / urban transition 28
Sharonville 7 Suburban / urban transition 28
Willoughby 7 Suburban / urban transition 28
Montgomery 7 Suburban / urban transition 28
Grove City 7 Suburban / urban transition 29
Ravenna 7 Suburban / urban transition 29
Chillicothe 7 Suburban / urban transition 29
Celina 7 Suburban / urban transition 29
Vandalia 7 Suburban / urban transition 29
East Liverpool 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Monfort Heights 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Brunswick 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Whitehall 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Blue Ash 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Upper Arlington 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Lebanon 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Streetsboro 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Middleburg Heights 7 Suburban / urban transition 31
Tiffin 7 Suburban / urban transition 31
Niles 7 Suburban / urban transition 31
Fairborn 7 Suburban / urban transition 31
Circleville 7 Suburban / urban transition 31
Parma Heights 7 Suburban / urban transition 32
Oxford 7 Suburban / urban transition 32
Bucyrus 7 Suburban / urban transition 32
North Olmsted 7 Suburban / urban transition 32
Heath 7 Suburban / urban transition 33
Bedford 7 Suburban / urban transition 33
Fostoria 7 Suburban / urban transition 33
Portsmouth 7 Suburban / urban transition 33
Glenville 7 Suburban / urban transition 33
Twinsburg 7 Suburban / urban transition 33
Dover 7 Suburban / urban transition 33
Fremont 7 Suburban / urban transition 34
Strongsville 7 Suburban / urban transition 34
Garfield Heights 7 Suburban / urban transition 34
Austintown 7 Suburban / urban transition 34
Dublin 7 Suburban / urban transition 34
Ironton 7 Suburban / urban transition 35
Marietta 7 Suburban / urban transition 36
Shaker Heights 7 Suburban / urban transition 36
Hilliard 7 Suburban / urban transition 36
Athens 7 Suburban / urban transition 36
Lakewood 7 Suburban / urban transition 36
Marysville 7 Suburban / urban transition 36
Westerville 7 Suburban / urban transition 36
Lancaster 7 Suburban / urban transition 37
Sandusky 7 Suburban / urban transition 37
Piqua 7 Suburban / urban transition 37
Bowling Green 7 Suburban / urban transition 37
Collinwood 7 Suburban / urban transition 37
Delaware 7 Suburban / urban transition 37
New Philadelphia 7 Suburban / urban transition 37
Reading 7 Suburban / urban transition 37
Kent 7 Suburban / urban transition 38
Marion 7 Suburban / urban transition 38
East Cleveland 7 Suburban / urban transition 39
Xenia 7 Suburban / urban transition 39
Brooklyn 7 Suburban / urban transition 39
Norwood 7 Suburban / urban transition 39
Avon Center 8 City sky 40
Middletown 8 City sky 40
Massillon 8 City sky 41
Forestville 8 City sky 41
South Euclid 8 City sky 42
Salem 8 City sky 42
Beachwood 8 City sky 42
Barberton 8 City sky 43
University Heights 8 City sky 43
Oregon 8 City sky 43
Euclid 8 City sky 43
Mount Vernon 8 City sky 43
Zanesville 8 City sky 44
Cleveland Heights 8 City sky 44
Cuyahoga Falls 8 City sky 46
Maple Heights 8 City sky 46
Mayfield Heights 8 City sky 46
Tallmadge 8 City sky 46
Clark-Fulton 8 City sky 47
Springdale 8 City sky 47
Newark 8 City sky 48
Troy 8 City sky 50
Toledo 8 City sky 50
Ashland 8 City sky 50
Mansfield 8 City sky 52
Elyria 8 City sky 52
Detroit-Shoreway 8 City sky 52
Painesville 8 City sky 54
Lima 8 City sky 55
Wooster 8 City sky 55
Solon 8 City sky 58
Bedford Heights 8 City sky 59
Warren 8 City sky 59
Boardman 8 City sky 60
Findlay 8 City sky 62
Springfield 8 City sky 65
Hough 8 City sky 65
Hamilton 8 City sky 66
Warrensville Heights 8 City sky 68
Canton 8 City sky 73
Cincinnati 8 City sky 82
Akron 9 Inner-city sky 112
Youngstown 9 Inner-city sky 122
Dayton 9 Inner-city sky 138
Columbus 9 Inner-city sky 146
Cleveland 9 Inner-city sky 203

Frequently asked questions

Where are the darkest skies in Ohio?
The darkest town tracked here is New Franklin. 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 Ohio have?
Of 195 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.

Explore

Learn to read the Bortle scale, check the meteor shower calendar, or search all towns from the home page.