Noise Levels in Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road, San Antonio, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
49 dBA
Average noise across Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road
Quiet office
1,955
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
21% of Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road residents
59 dBA
Loudest residential point
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road 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 1,955 Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road residents, or 20.6%, live above that level. By land area, 24.5% of Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road is above 55 dBA.
75.5% below 55 dBA
24.5% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road
Average noise levels for Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road residents, grouped by direction from the center of Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road. Central Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road carries the highest population-weighted average; Southern Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road carries the lowest. Just 3% of residents in Southern Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in Central Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road.
Central Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road
51.3 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road
49.6 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Northern Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road
50.9 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
Southern Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road
40.6 dBA · Quiet
Soft rainfall
Western Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road
49.0 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Central Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road sounds about 110% louder than Southern Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road to the human ear, a 10.7 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 59 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
59 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
45 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
330 ft
38 dBA
Soft rainfall
660 ft
35 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 Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road sits under tree canopy (about average for neighborhoods) and roughly 53% 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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Airport Noise
San Antonio International (SAT) sits east of Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road. 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 65 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road, particularly to the west, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road
The bar chart below shows the share of Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road residents in each noise band. About 88% 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 Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road Compares
Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Thunderbird Hills, Heritage, Villages of Westcreek, and Great Northwest.
Average noise level (dBA)
Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road's 48.9 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 20.6% of Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road 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, 24.5% of Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road'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 Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road
- 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 Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road is under tree cover (about average for neighborhoods), 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. San Antonio International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the east. Neighborhoods to the west of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
