Oregon dark-sky map — light pollution by town
Oregon has 58 towns rated for light pollution here, from its darkest — Agate Beach (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.
- Towns rated
- 58
- Darkest town
- Agate Beach
- Genuinely dark towns
- 0
0 rate as genuinely dark or rural sky (about Bortle 4 or better).
All Oregon 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.
| Sky | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Agate Beach | 5 | Suburban sky | 3.6 |
| Damascus | 5 | Suburban sky | 5.9 |
| Oatfield | 5 | Suburban sky | 7.9 |
| Oak Grove | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 10 |
| Ashland | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 11 |
| Saint Helens | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 11 |
| Happy Valley | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 13 |
| Dallas | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 13 |
| Sandy | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 13 |
| The Dalles | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 14 |
| Lake Oswego | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 14 |
| Bethany | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 15 |
| Newberg | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 16 |
| Monmouth | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 16 |
| Oregon City | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 17 |
| Forest Grove | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 18 |
| Altamont | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 19 |
| Wilsonville | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 19 |
| Woodburn | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 19 |
| Sherwood | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 20 |
| West Linn | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 20 |
| Cornelius | 6 | Bright suburban sky | 20 |
| Oak Hills | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 22 |
| Roseburg | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 22 |
| Troutdale | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 22 |
| Aloha | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 23 |
| Lebanon | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 23 |
| McMinnville | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 24 |
| Coos Bay | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 24 |
| Springfield | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 25 |
| Keizer | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 26 |
| Newport | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 26 |
| Gresham | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 26 |
| Pendleton | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 27 |
| La Grande | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 27 |
| Corvallis | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 27 |
| Milwaukie | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 27 |
| Bend | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 27 |
| Central Point | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 27 |
| Cedar Mill | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 28 |
| Gladstone | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 29 |
| Canby | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 29 |
| Redmond | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 30 |
| Klamath Falls | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 30 |
| Hayesville | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 30 |
| Tigard | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 34 |
| Albany | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 35 |
| Ontario | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 35 |
| Grants Pass | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 36 |
| Four Corners | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 37 |
| Tualatin | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 37 |
| Hermiston | 7 | Suburban / urban transition | 38 |
| Hillsboro | 8 | City sky | 50 |
| Beaverton | 8 | City sky | 51 |
| Medford | 8 | City sky | 56 |
| Salem | 8 | City sky | 67 |
| Eugene | 8 | City sky | 71 |
| Portland | 9 | Inner-city sky | 115 |
Frequently asked questions
- Where are the darkest skies in Oregon?
- The darkest town tracked here is Agate Beach. 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 Oregon have?
- Of 58 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.