Noise Levels in 77062, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map

58 dBA
Average noise across 77062
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
16,072
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
76% of 77062 residents
68 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away

This map shows modeled outdoor noise across 77062 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
77062, TX Map of Noise Levels in 77062
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 16,072 77062 residents, or 75.9%, live above that level. By land area, 75.7% of 77062 is above 55 dBA.

See how noise in 77062 compares to similar-sized zip codes.

Noise by Part of 77062

Average noise levels for 77062 residents, grouped by direction from the center of 77062. Western 77062 carries the highest population-weighted average; Southern 77062 carries the lowest. Just 52% of residents in Southern 77062 live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in Western 77062.

Central 77062

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

100% of people above 55 dBA

QuietLoud

Eastern 77062

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

58% of people above 55 dBA

QuietLoud

Northern 77062

58.1 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away

93% of people above 55 dBA

QuietLoud

Southern 77062

55.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation

52% of people above 55 dBA

QuietLoud

Western 77062

59.8 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away

98% of people above 55 dBA

QuietLoud

Western 77062 sounds about 32% louder than Southern 77062 to the human ear, a 4.0 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 68 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
68 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
165 ft
55 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
330 ft
47 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
39 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall

Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 17% of 77062 sits under tree canopy (about average for zip codes) and roughly 52% 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 77062. 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.

Airport Noise

William P Hobby (HOU) sits northwest of 77062. The U.S. Department of Transportation models aviation noise around this airport from federal traffic data, and the model uses those federal measurements rather than synthetic predictions.

Blocks under the approach and departure paths carry combined road-plus-aviation noise, with some exceeding 60 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of 77062, particularly to the southeast, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.

How Noise Is Distributed Across 77062

The bar chart below shows the share of 77062 residents in each noise band. About 24% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 24% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.

How 77062 Compares

77062 sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how 77062's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with 77598, 77504, 77536, and 77502.

Average noise level (dBA)

77062's 57.6 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than 77062 because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.

Share of residents above 55 dBA

About 75.9% of 77062 residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's more than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 75.7% of 77062's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Texas average of 22.8% and a national average of 28.1%.

What This Means if You're Moving to 77062

  • 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 17% of 77062 is under tree cover (about average for zip codes), and the dominant land cover is medium-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.
  • Airport noise is directional. William P Hobby's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northwest. Neighborhoods to the southeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.

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.