Noise Levels in 23866, VA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
45 dBA
Average noise across 23866
Quiet suburban street at night
195
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
9% of 23866 residents
89 dBA
Loudest residential point
Lawnmower at 1 m
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across 23866 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 195 23866 residents, or 9.2%, live above that level. By land area, 10.8% of 23866 is above 55 dBA.
89.2% below 55 dBA
10.8% above 55 dBA
See how noise in 23866 compares to similar-sized zip codes.
Noise by Part of 23866
Average noise levels for 23866 residents, grouped by direction from the center of 23866. The highest population-weighted average is in western 23866; the lowest is in northeastern 23866, where just 3% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in the loudest section.
Western 23866
53.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southwestern 23866
45.3 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Northeastern 23866
45.1 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
To the human ear, noise in western 23866 sounds about 84% louder than in northeastern 23866, a 8.8 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 89 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 to normal conversation.
At source
89 dBA
Lawnmower at 1 m
165 ft
76 dBA
City bus interior
330 ft
69 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
660 ft
61 dBA
Busy restaurant
¼ mile
54 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
½ mile
46 dBA
Quiet office
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 45% of 23866 sits under tree canopy (heavier than most zip codes) and roughly 2% 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 23866. 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 23866
The bar chart below shows the share of 23866 residents in each noise band. About 89% 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 23866 Compares
23866 sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how 23866's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with 23898, 23888, 23883, and 23881.
Average noise level (dBA)
23866's 45.1 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 23866 because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 9.2% of 23866 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, 10.8% of 23866'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 23866
- 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 45% of 23866 is under tree cover (heavier than most zip codes), and the dominant land cover is cultivated cropland. 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.
