Where has the night sky gotten brighter since 2012?

How much brighter the night sky overhead is in each of the 1013 cities than in 2012, from the same NASA satellite each year. The median city is +6%. 514 cities are more than 5% brighter, 301 are more than 5% darker, the rest about unchanged. The biggest rise is Celina, Texas: +101%.

Cities whose sky brightened most, 2012 to 2025

Cities whose sky got darker, 2012 to 2025

Celina Texas+101%
Leander Texas+91%
Lakeville Minnesota+75%
Lakewood New Jersey+72%
Midland Texas+72%
Menifee California+71%
McKinney Texas+71%
Lehi Utah+67%
San Tan Valley Arizona+66%
Frisco Texas+60%

Tynemouth England-48%
Washington England-47%
Milton Keynes England-44%
Dunfermline Scotland-41%
Saint Peters England-39%
Hartlepool England-39%
Sunderland England-39%
Waterlooville England-39%
Dundee Scotland-38%
Rhondda Wales-37%

The states, provinces and nations whose skies brightened most

State or region	Cities	Median change	Brighter by 5%+	Biggest rise
Texas · United States	66	+24%	59 of 66	Celina+101%
Utah · United States	11	+24%	11 of 11	Lehi+67%
Nevada · United States	9	+22%	8 of 9	Enterprise+50%
New Jersey · United States	17	+21%	17 of 17	Lakewood+72%
Idaho · United States	6	+20%	6 of 6	Idaho Falls+38%
California · United States	134	+19%	113 of 134	Menifee+71%
South Dakota · United States	2	+18%	2 of 2	Rapid City+22%
Arizona · United States	18	+16%	16 of 18	San Tan Valley+66%
Michigan · United States	24	+15%	19 of 24	Shelby+32%
Florida · United States	57	+14%	49 of 57	Doral+41%
Oklahoma · United States	9	+14%	8 of 9	Broken Arrow+25%
Kentucky · United States	6	+11%	4 of 6	Owensboro+17%
Colorado · United States	18	+11%	14 of 18	Castle Rock+39%
South Carolina · United States	5	+11%	4 of 5	North Charleston+16%
Maryland · United States	11	+11%	7 of 11	Dundalk+29%
British Columbia · Canada	17	+10%	12 of 17	Chilliwack+29%
Ulster · Ireland	1	+10%	1 of 1	Letterkenny+10%
Manitoba · Canada	1	+9%	1 of 1	Winnipeg+9%
Pennsylvania · United States	13	+9%	9 of 13	Levittown+17%
Ontario · Canada	35	+8%	22 of 35	Pickering+41%
Arkansas · United States	7	+8%	4 of 7	Rogers+37%
Kansas · United States	7	+8%	5 of 7	Manhattan+20%
New York · United States	21	+8%	14 of 21	New York City+18%
Wyoming · United States	2	+7%	1 of 2	Casper+24%
Iowa · United States	10	+7%	7 of 10	Ankeny+42%
Nebraska · United States	4	+6%	2 of 4	Bellevue+12%
Minnesota · United States	14	+6%	7 of 14	Lakeville+75%
New Mexico · United States	5	+6%	3 of 5	Enchanted Hills+21%
Nova Scotia · Canada	2	+5%	1 of 2	Halifax+15%
Alabama · United States	9	+5%	4 of 9	Huntsville+18%
Hawaii · United States	1	+5%	0 of 1	Honolulu+5%
Indiana · United States	17	+5%	8 of 17	Fishers+41%
Missouri · United States	12	+5%	5 of 12	Lee's Summit+15%
Montana · United States	3	+5%	1 of 3	Billings+14%
Tennessee · United States	14	+3%	6 of 14	Franklin+14%
Alberta · Canada	10	+3%	4 of 10	Grande Prairie+31%
Oregon · United States	10	+3%	4 of 10	Medford+21%
Wisconsin · United States	12	+3%	4 of 12	West Allis+13%
North Dakota · United States	3	+3%	1 of 3	Bismarck+25%
Georgia · United States	17	+3%	7 of 17	South Fulton+18%
Saskatchewan · Canada	2	+2%	0 of 2	Regina+5%
Connecticut · United States	13	+2%	4 of 13	North Stamford+12%
Illinois · United States	23	+1%	10 of 23	Elgin+20%
Massachusetts · United States	15	+1%	5 of 15	Lawrence+17%
Virginia · United States	17	+1%	3 of 17	Leesburg+14%
Ohio · United States	14	+0%	2 of 14	Cincinnati+8%
New Brunswick · Canada	3	+0%	1 of 3	Fredericton+10%
Delaware · United States	1	+0%	0 of 1	Wilmington+0%
Leinster · Ireland	14	-0%	5 of 14	Newbridge+11%
New Hampshire · United States	2	-2%	0 of 2	Nashua+1%
Rhode Island · United States	2	-3%	0 of 2	Warwick+2%
North Carolina · United States	18	-3%	3 of 18	Huntersville+19%
Washington · United States	21	-4%	8 of 21	Spokane+25%
Newfoundland and Labrador · Canada	1	-5%	0 of 1	St. John's-5%
Louisiana · United States	7	-5%	1 of 7	Lake Charles+9%
Quebec · Canada	15	-7%	1 of 15	Repentigny+6%
Maine · United States	1	-10%	0 of 1	Portland-10%
Mississippi · United States	3	-10%	1 of 3	Southaven+14%
Connacht · Ireland	2	-13%	0 of 2	Sligo-10%
Munster · Ireland	5	-14%	0 of 5	Cork-7%
Alaska · United States	1	-14%	0 of 1	Anchorage-14%
Northern Ireland · United Kingdom	5	-16%	0 of 5	Belfast-14%
Wales · United Kingdom	7	-18%	0 of 7	Wrexham-9%
England · United Kingdom	169	-23%	0 of 169	Birmingham+0%
District of Columbia · United States	1	-23%	0 of 1	Washington-23%
Scotland · United Kingdom	11	-31%	0 of 11	Glasgow-11%

Every city, from the biggest rise

The first twenty; search or filter for any city.

1013 places

What the change measures, and what the satellite misses

The number is the change in the brightness of the sky overhead on a clear, moonless night, modeled from the NASA Black Marble yearly night images of 2012 and 2025 with the same method. +20% means the sky is a fifth brighter than in 2012; the natural sky counts as well, so a city whose artificial light doubled shows less than +100%.

The satellite barely sees the blue part of white LED light. A town that swapped orange sodium lamps for white LEDs looks darker from orbit than it does from the ground, which is why many British cities show a fall. Treat a decline as "less light the satellite can see", not as a darker sky for certain. A rise is harder to explain away: more light reaching space in the colors the satellite does see.