Noise Levels in Air Force Academy, CO | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
35 dBA
Average noise across Air Force Academy
Soft rainfall
12
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
1% of Air Force Academy residents
89 dBA
Loudest residential point
Lawnmower at 1 m
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Air Force Academy 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 12 Air Force Academy residents, or 0.6%, live above that level. By land area, 33.9% of Air Force Academy is above 55 dBA.
66.1% below 55 dBA
33.9% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Air Force Academy compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Air Force Academy
Average noise levels for Air Force Academy residents, grouped by direction from the center of Air Force Academy. The highest population-weighted average is in southern Air Force Academy; the lowest is in southeastern Air Force Academy, where just 0% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in the loudest section.
Southern Air Force Academy
37.1 dBA · Quiet
Soft rainfall
Eastern Air Force Academy
36.4 dBA · Quiet
Soft rainfall
Southeastern Air Force Academy
35.1 dBA · Quiet
Soft rainfall
To the human ear, noise in southern Air Force Academy sounds about 15% louder than in southeastern Air Force Academy, a 2.0 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 I-25 do you need to be?
I-25 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 soft rainfall.
At source
78 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
64 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
56 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
49 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
41 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 10% of Air Force Academy sits under tree canopy (lighter than most cities) and roughly 16% 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 Air Force Academy. 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 Air Force Academy
The bar chart below shows the share of Air Force Academy residents in each noise band. About 94% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 0% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Air Force Academy Compares
Air Force Academy sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Air Force Academy's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Cascade, Palmer Lake, Cripple Creek, and Fort Carson.
Average noise level (dBA)
Air Force Academy's 35.0 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Colorado as a whole averages 51.9 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Air Force Academy because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 0.6% of Air Force Academy residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's fewer than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 33.9% of Air Force Academy's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Colorado average of 25.4% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Air Force Academy
- 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-25 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 10% of Air Force Academy is under tree cover (lighter than most cities), 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.
