Noise Levels in 79201, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
48 dBA
Average noise across 79201
Quiet office
502
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
19% of 79201 residents
104 dBA
Loudest residential point
Power saw
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across 79201 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 502 79201 residents, or 19.0%, live above that level. By land area, 14.2% of 79201 is above 55 dBA.
85.8% below 55 dBA
14.2% above 55 dBA
See how noise in 79201 compares to similar-sized zip codes.
Noise by Part of 79201
Average noise levels for 79201 residents, grouped by direction from the center of 79201. The highest population-weighted average is in eastern 79201; the lowest is in western 79201, where just 0% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
Eastern 79201
56.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northern 79201
56.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northeastern 79201
56.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southeastern 79201
47.4 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Western 79201
45.4 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
To the human ear, noise in eastern 79201 sounds about 120% louder than in western 79201, a 11.4 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 do you need to be?
produces an estimated 104 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 busy restaurant.
At source
104 dBA
Power saw
165 ft
90 dBA
Lawnmower at 1 m
330 ft
82 dBA
Food blender at arm’s length
660 ft
73 dBA
City bus interior
¼ mile
65 dBA
Busy restaurant
½ mile
57 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 0% of 79201 sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most zip codes) and roughly 29% 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 79201. 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 79201
The bar chart below shows the share of 79201 residents in each noise band. About 80% 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 79201 Compares
79201 sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how 79201's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with 79252, 79245, 79095, and 79226.
Average noise level (dBA)
79201's 47.8 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 79201 because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 19.0% of 79201 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, 14.2% of 79201'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 79201
- 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 0% of 79201 is under tree cover (much lighter 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.
