Noise Levels in Alpha, NJ | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
50 dBA
Average noise across Alpha
Quiet office
184
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
17% of Alpha residents
81 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Alpha 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 184 Alpha residents, or 16.9%, live above that level. By land area, 21.3% of Alpha is above 55 dBA.
78.7% below 55 dBA
21.3% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Alpha compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Alpha
Average noise levels for Alpha residents, grouped by direction from the center of Alpha. Eastern Alpha carries the highest population-weighted average; Western Alpha carries the lowest. Just 0% of residents in Western Alpha live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in Eastern Alpha.
Central Alpha
49.1 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Eastern Alpha
58.4 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northern Alpha
50.3 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
Southern Alpha
58.2 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western Alpha
46.4 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Eastern Alpha sounds about 130% louder than Western Alpha to the human ear, a 12.0 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-78 do you need to be?
I-78 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
65 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
58 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
50 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
43 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
½ mile
36 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 25% of Alpha sits under tree canopy (about average for cities) and roughly 41% 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 Alpha. 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 Alpha
The bar chart below shows the share of Alpha residents in each noise band. About 69% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 11% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Alpha Compares
Alpha sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Alpha's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with West Portal, Hughesville, Three Bridges, and Cedar Heights.
Average noise level (dBA)
Alpha's 50.0 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. New Jersey as a whole averages 49.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Alpha because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 16.9% of Alpha 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, 21.3% of Alpha's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a New Jersey average of 25.2% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Alpha
- 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-78 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 25% of Alpha is under tree cover (about average for 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.
