Stargaze Atlas

Wisconsin dark-sky map — light pollution by town

87 towns rated · darkest: Fitchburg · measured from VIIRS 2024 satellite night-lights

Wisconsin has 87 towns rated for light pollution here, from its darkest — Fitchburg (Bortle 4) — to its brightest city cores. 3 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 Wisconsin · VIIRS 2024
Towns rated
87

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

Darkest town
Fitchburg
Genuinely dark towns
2

All Wisconsin 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.

Wisconsin towns, darkest sky first.
Sky
Fitchburg 4 Rural / suburban transition 1.7
Caledonia 4 Rural / suburban transition 2.8
Mequon 5 Suburban sky 3.4
Suamico 5 Suburban sky 4.6
Pleasant Prairie 5 Suburban sky 6.3
Salem 5 Suburban sky 6.6
Franklin 5 Suburban sky 6.9
Brookfield 6 Bright suburban sky 8.4
Richfield 6 Bright suburban sky 8.4
Bellevue 6 Bright suburban sky 9.7
Onalaska 6 Bright suburban sky 11
Muskego 6 Bright suburban sky 12
Oregon 6 Bright suburban sky 12
Allouez 6 Bright suburban sky 13
Oak Creek 6 Bright suburban sky 13
Stoughton 6 Bright suburban sky 13
Hudson 6 Bright suburban sky 14
Port Washington 6 Bright suburban sky 16
Whitewater 6 Bright suburban sky 17
Whitefish Bay 6 Bright suburban sky 17
Sussex 6 Bright suburban sky 18
Cedarburg 6 Bright suburban sky 19
Brown Deer 6 Bright suburban sky 19
Monroe 6 Bright suburban sky 20
River Falls 6 Bright suburban sky 20
Menomonie 7 Suburban / urban transition 20
Plover 7 Suburban / urban transition 21
Hartford 7 Suburban / urban transition 21
Two Rivers 7 Suburban / urban transition 21
Little Chute 7 Suburban / urban transition 22
Middleton 7 Suburban / urban transition 22
Portage 7 Suburban / urban transition 22
Waunakee 7 Suburban / urban transition 23
North La Crosse 7 Suburban / urban transition 24
Oconomowoc 7 Suburban / urban transition 24
Verona 7 Suburban / urban transition 25
Chippewa Falls 7 Suburban / urban transition 25
Germantown 7 Suburban / urban transition 25
Fort Atkinson 7 Suburban / urban transition 26
Greendale 7 Suburban / urban transition 26
Platteville 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
Beaver Dam 7 Suburban / urban transition 27
Baraboo 7 Suburban / urban transition 28
La Crosse 7 Suburban / urban transition 29
Menomonee Falls 7 Suburban / urban transition 29
Superior 7 Suburban / urban transition 30
Grafton 7 Suburban / urban transition 31
Janesville 7 Suburban / urban transition 31
Marinette 7 Suburban / urban transition 32
New Berlin 7 Suburban / urban transition 32
Fond du Lac 7 Suburban / urban transition 32
Glendale 7 Suburban / urban transition 32
Waupun 7 Suburban / urban transition 33
Burlington 7 Suburban / urban transition 33
Kaukauna 7 Suburban / urban transition 33
Watertown 7 Suburban / urban transition 33
Sun Prairie 7 Suburban / urban transition 34
Mount Pleasant 7 Suburban / urban transition 34
Stevens Point 7 Suburban / urban transition 34
Howard 7 Suburban / urban transition 34
Wisconsin Rapids 7 Suburban / urban transition 37
De Pere 7 Suburban / urban transition 38
Menasha 7 Suburban / urban transition 38
Eau Claire 7 Suburban / urban transition 39
Shorewood 7 Suburban / urban transition 39
South Milwaukee 7 Suburban / urban transition 40
West Bend 8 City sky 40
Racine 8 City sky 40
Appleton 8 City sky 41
Wauwatosa 8 City sky 42
Wausau 8 City sky 43
Cudahy 8 City sky 45
Marshfield 8 City sky 46
Manitowoc 8 City sky 46
Neenah 8 City sky 48
Oshkosh 8 City sky 50
Greenfield 8 City sky 52
Waukesha 8 City sky 54
Sheboygan 8 City sky 54
West Allis 8 City sky 55
Beloit 8 City sky 56
Green Bay 8 City sky 65
Madison 8 City sky 70
Kenosha 8 City sky 73
Ashwaubenon 8 City sky 81
Milwaukee 9 Inner-city sky 210
Weston 4 Rural / suburban transition 2.0

Frequently asked questions

Where are the darkest skies in Wisconsin?
The darkest town tracked here is Fitchburg. 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 Wisconsin have?
Of 87 towns rated here, 3 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.