Noise Levels in 21601, MD | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map

51 dBA
Average noise across 21601
Quiet office
4,798
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
23% of 21601 residents
83 dBA
Loudest residential point
Food blender at arm’s length

This map shows modeled outdoor noise across 21601 at 100-meter resolution, combining road, aviation, and rail sources. Green areas measure below 45 dBA. Orange and red exceed the EPA's 55 dBA outdoor threshold linked to long-term health effects. Use the layer toggles to view each source on its own or all together.

Overall
Road
Rail
Aviation
21601, MD Map of Noise Levels in 21601
Click the map to explore
35 45 55 70 90
Quietest (dBA) Loudest
Colorblind friendly off

What the numbers sound like

  • 30 dBAWhisper
  • 40 dBASoft rainfall
  • 45 dBAQuiet suburban street at night
  • 50 dBAQuiet office
  • 55 dBAEPA outdoor threshold: light traffic 100 ft away
  • 60 dBANormal conversation an arm's length away
  • 65 dBABusy restaurant
  • 70 dBAHighway traffic 50 ft away
  • 80 dBACity bus interior

Population Above the EPA Outdoor Threshold

The EPA's 55 dBA outdoor reference level is a common benchmark for residential noise exposure, especially for activity interference, annoyance, and long-term community noise concerns. About 4,798 21601 residents, or 22.9%, live above that level. By land area, 31.8% of 21601 is above 55 dBA.

See how noise in 21601 compares to similar-sized zip codes.

Noise by Part of 21601

Average noise levels for 21601 residents, grouped by direction from the center of 21601. Central 21601 carries the highest population-weighted average; Western 21601 carries the lowest. Just 13% of residents in Western 21601 live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in Central 21601.

Central 21601

56.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away

76% of people above 55 dBA

QuietLoud

Eastern 21601

49.8 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office

24% of people above 55 dBA

QuietLoud

Northern 21601

52.3 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation

29% of people above 55 dBA

QuietLoud

Southern 21601

50.1 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office

16% of people above 55 dBA

QuietLoud

Western 21601

48.8 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office

13% of people above 55 dBA

QuietLoud

Central 21601 sounds about 74% louder than Western 21601 to the human ear, a 8.0 dBA gap. Every 10 dBA roughly doubles perceived loudness. Within any of these directions, two homes a quarter mile apart can still differ by 10 or more dBA depending on how close they sit to a major highway.

How far back from do you need to be?

produces an estimated 83 dBA at its loudest centerline points. Noise drops logarithmically with distance, with the exact rate depending on what's between you and the road. Tree cover, walls, terrain, and pavement type all matter. At roughly a quarter mile back, traffic fades into the noise level of a quiet office.

At source
83 dBA
Food blender at arm’s length
165 ft
70 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
330 ft
63 dBA
Busy restaurant
660 ft
56 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
¼ mile
48 dBA
Quiet office
½ mile
41 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night

Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 35% of 21601 sits under tree canopy (heavier than most zip codes) and roughly 24% is impervious surface like pavement and rooftops. Both are folded into the per-place decay rate above. Heavier canopy pulls noise down faster with distance; impervious surfaces slow the drop.

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How Noise Is Distributed Across 21601

The bar chart below shows the share of 21601 residents in each noise band. About 76% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 3% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.

How 21601 Compares

21601 sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how 21601's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with 21613, 21012, 21409, and 21037.

Average noise level (dBA)

21601's 50.6 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Maryland as a whole averages 52.3 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than 21601 because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.

Share of residents above 55 dBA

About 22.9% of 21601 residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's in the middle of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 31.8% of 21601's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Maryland average of 32.9% and a national average of 28.1%.

What This Means if You're Moving to 21601

  • Distance from highways matters more than the neighborhood name. Two homes in the same zip code can differ by 20 dBA if one sits 100 meters from and the other 500 meters away. The model captures this at 100-meter resolution, so noise exposure changes block by block.
  • Tree canopy can help reduce modeled noise exposure. Roughly 35% of 21601 is under tree cover (heavier than most zip codes), and the dominant land cover is low-intensity developed land. Both are measured from federal USDA Forest Service and USGS satellite imagery at 30-meter resolution. Streets with 60% or higher canopy show 3 to 5 dBA lower noise than comparable streets with bare ground or pavement, which is why the per-place decay rate above already accounts for it.

Sources & Methodology

The BestNeighborhood noise model is calibrated against nearly one million federal ground-truth measurements across four states. Road noise is computed from segment-level federal traffic data and propagated outward using physics-based acoustic decay, with attenuation rates that depend on the surrounding land cover.

Federal datasets used:

FHWA Highway Performance Monitoring System: road geometry, traffic counts, lane configuration
U.S. DoT Bureau of Transportation Statistics National Transportation Noise Map: aviation and rail noise, road calibration ground truth
USGS / MRLC National Land Cover Database: land cover and impervious surface coverage
USDA Forest Service Tree Canopy Cover: vegetation density for sound propagation
U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line: block-level geography and population
U.S. EPA Levels Document: 55 dBA outdoor reference level

All inputs are published federal datasets. Block-level noise is computed by combining road, rail, and aviation sound sources in the energy domain, the same physics used in professional environmental noise assessments. Read the full methodology.

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