Noise Levels in 23824, VA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
48 dBA
Average noise across 23824
Quiet office
952
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
16% of 23824 residents
99 dBA
Loudest residential point
Power saw
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across 23824 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.
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 952 23824 residents, or 15.5%, live above that level. By land area, 17.6% of 23824 is above 55 dBA.
82.4% below 55 dBA
17.6% above 55 dBA
See how noise in 23824 compares to similar-sized zip codes.
Noise by Part of 23824
Average noise levels for 23824 residents, grouped by direction from the center of 23824. The highest population-weighted average is in western 23824; the lowest is in southern 23824, where just 3% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
Western 23824
62.5 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Northeastern 23824
58.7 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northern 23824
55.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southwestern 23824
55.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern 23824
44.1 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
To the human ear, noise in western 23824 sounds about 258% louder than in southern 23824, a 18.4 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 N West Ave do you need to be?
N West Ave produces an estimated 59 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 soft rainfall.
At source
59 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
45 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
330 ft
37 dBA
Soft rainfall
660 ft
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 54% of 23824 sits under tree canopy (much heavier than most zip codes) and roughly 10% 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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Rail Noise
Active freight rail runs through parts of 23824. For most blocks the rail-only contribution is small. Combined road-plus-rail noise rarely exceeds road noise on its own. The exceptions are the handful of blocks within roughly a quarter mile of the right-of-way during pass-through hours.
Use the Rail toggle on the map above to isolate rail's contribution from road and aviation.
How Noise Is Distributed Across 23824
The bar chart below shows the share of 23824 residents in each noise band. About 84% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 4% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How 23824 Compares
23824 sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how 23824's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with 23930, 23974, 23922, and 23944.
Average noise level (dBA)
23824's 48.0 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. Virginia as a whole averages 52.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than 23824 because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 15.5% of 23824 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, 17.6% of 23824's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Virginia average of 30.0% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to 23824
- 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 N West Ave 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 54% of 23824 is under tree cover (much heavier than most zip codes), and the dominant land cover is low-density developed open space. 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.
