Stargaze Atlas

Pennsylvania dark-sky map — light pollution by town

104 towns rated · darkest: Landenberg · measured from VIIRS 2024 satellite night-lights

Pennsylvania has 104 towns rated for light pollution here, from its darkest — Landenberg (Bortle 4) — to its brightest city cores. 2 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 Pennsylvania · VIIRS 2024
Towns rated
104

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

Darkest town
Landenberg
Genuinely dark towns
1

All Pennsylvania 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.

Pennsylvania towns, darkest sky first.
Sky
Landenberg 4 Rural / suburban transition 1.8
Back Mountain 5 Suburban sky 3.4
Franklin Park 5 Suburban sky 4.3
Plum 5 Suburban sky 5.7
Jefferson Hills 5 Suburban sky 6.1
Mountain Top 5 Suburban sky 6.1
Upper Saint Clair 5 Suburban sky 6.1
Monroeville 5 Suburban sky 7.0
Allison Park 6 Bright suburban sky 8.7
East Norriton 6 Bright suburban sky 10
South Park Township 6 Bright suburban sky 11
Berwick 6 Bright suburban sky 11
Whitehall Township 6 Bright suburban sky 11
Fernway 6 Bright suburban sky 12
Shiloh 6 Bright suburban sky 12
West Norriton 6 Bright suburban sky 12
Whitehall 6 Bright suburban sky 12
Wyomissing 6 Bright suburban sky 13
Columbia 6 Bright suburban sky 13
Weigelstown 6 Bright suburban sky 13
Baldwin 6 Bright suburban sky 13
Levittown 6 Bright suburban sky 14
Limerick 6 Bright suburban sky 14
Nanticoke 6 Bright suburban sky 15
North Versailles 6 Bright suburban sky 15
Emmaus 6 Bright suburban sky 16
Springfield 6 Bright suburban sky 16
Oil City 6 Bright suburban sky 16
Broomall 6 Bright suburban sky 17
Munhall 6 Bright suburban sky 17
Lower Burrell 6 Bright suburban sky 17
Murrysville 6 Bright suburban sky 18
Dunmore 6 Bright suburban sky 18
Colonial Park 6 Bright suburban sky 18
Bethel Park 6 Bright suburban sky 18
Saint Marys 7 Suburban / urban transition 20
Elizabethtown 7 Suburban / urban transition 22
Havertown 7 Suburban / urban transition 22
Bloomsburg 7 Suburban / urban transition 22
Ephrata 7 Suburban / urban transition 22
Wayne 7 Suburban / urban transition 22
Fullerton 7 Suburban / urban transition 24
Pottstown 7 Suburban / urban transition 24
Sharon 7 Suburban / urban transition 25
Coatesville 7 Suburban / urban transition 25
Phoenixville 7 Suburban / urban transition 26
Lansdowne 7 Suburban / urban transition 26
Drexel Hill 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
Abington 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
East Stroudsburg 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
West Mifflin 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
Hanover 7 Suburban / urban transition 28
Horsham 7 Suburban / urban transition 28
Carlisle 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
West Chester 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Natrona Heights 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Lebanon 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Johnstown 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Montgomeryville 7 Suburban / urban transition 31
Pottsville 7 Suburban / urban transition 31
Easton 7 Suburban / urban transition 31
Waynesboro 7 Suburban / urban transition 32
Bensalem 7 Suburban / urban transition 32
New Kensington 7 Suburban / urban transition 33
Bethlehem 7 Suburban / urban transition 34
Wilkinsburg 7 Suburban / urban transition 34
Darby 7 Suburban / urban transition 35
Hazleton 7 Suburban / urban transition 35
Lansdale 7 Suburban / urban transition 36
Radnor 7 Suburban / urban transition 36
Mount Lebanon 7 Suburban / urban transition 37
Yeadon 7 Suburban / urban transition 37
McKeesport 7 Suburban / urban transition 37
Willow Grove 7 Suburban / urban transition 38
Greensburg 7 Suburban / urban transition 40
Ardmore 8 City sky 40
Hershey 8 City sky 40
Butler 8 City sky 41
Meadville 8 City sky 41
Kingston 8 City sky 42
Williamsport 8 City sky 43
Chambersburg 8 City sky 43
Indiana 8 City sky 45
State College 8 City sky 47
Allentown 8 City sky 48
Carnot-Moon 8 City sky 49
Cranberry Township 8 City sky 49
Scranton 8 City sky 51
New Castle 8 City sky 51
Hermitage 8 City sky 51
Altoona 8 City sky 51
Norristown 8 City sky 52
Lancaster 8 City sky 53
Wilkes-Barre 8 City sky 55
Chester 8 City sky 57
York 8 City sky 64
Harrisburg 8 City sky 65
Washington 8 City sky 66
Reading 8 City sky 66
King of Prussia 8 City sky 75
Erie 9 Inner-city sky 120
Pittsburgh 9 Inner-city sky 157
Philadelphia 9 Inner-city sky 223
Shiloh 1-2 Truly dark sky 0.1

Frequently asked questions

Where are the darkest skies in Pennsylvania?
The darkest town tracked here is Landenberg. 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 Pennsylvania have?
Of 104 towns rated here, 2 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.