Noise Levels in 78073, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
45 dBA
Average noise across 78073
Quiet suburban street at night
497
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
6% of 78073 residents
80 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across 78073 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 497 78073 residents, or 6.4%, live above that level. By land area, 15.4% of 78073 is above 55 dBA.
84.6% below 55 dBA
15.4% above 55 dBA
See how noise in 78073 compares to similar-sized zip codes.
Noise by Part of 78073
Average noise levels for 78073 residents, grouped by direction from the center of 78073. The highest population-weighted average is in northern 78073; the lowest is in eastern 78073, where just 1% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
Northern 78073
54.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northeastern 78073
54.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southeastern 78073
45.3 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Southern 78073
45.2 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Eastern 78073
41.8 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
To the human ear, noise in northern 78073 sounds about 138% louder than in eastern 78073, a 12.5 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 I-35 do you need to be?
I-35 produces an estimated 78 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 suburban street at night.
At source
78 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
66 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
59 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
52 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
¼ mile
45 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
½ mile
38 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 4% of 78073 sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most zip codes) and roughly 8% 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 78073. 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 78073
The bar chart below shows the share of 78073 residents in each noise band. About 96% 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 78073 Compares
78073 sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how 78073's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with 78002, 78112, 78052, and 78065.
Average noise level (dBA)
78073's 44.7 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than 78073 because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 6.4% of 78073 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, 15.4% of 78073'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 78073
- 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 I-35 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 4% of 78073 is under tree cover (much lighter than most zip codes), and the dominant land cover is shrub / scrub. 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.
