Noise Levels in Antioch, CA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
53 dBA
Average noise across Antioch
Quiet office to normal conversation
36,625
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
36% of Antioch residents
90 dBA
Loudest residential point
Lawnmower at 1 m
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Antioch 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 36,625 Antioch residents, or 35.9%, live above that level. By land area, 42.2% of Antioch is above 55 dBA.
57.8% below 55 dBA
42.2% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Antioch compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Antioch
Average noise levels for Antioch residents, grouped by direction from the center of Antioch. Northern Antioch carries the highest population-weighted average; Southern Antioch carries the lowest. Just 27% of residents in Southern Antioch live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in Northern Antioch.
Central Antioch
52.3 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Antioch
52.9 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Antioch
55.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Antioch
51.4 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Antioch
53.4 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Antioch sounds about 33% louder than Southern Antioch to the human ear, a 4.1 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 State Rte 4 do you need to be?
State Rte 4 produces an estimated 77 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
77 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
62 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
54 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
45 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
37 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 4% of Antioch sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most cities) and roughly 47% 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.
-->
Rail Noise
Active freight rail runs through parts of Antioch. 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 Antioch
The bar chart below shows the share of Antioch residents in each noise band. About 68% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 5% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Antioch Compares
Antioch sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Antioch's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Concord, Pittsburg, Walnut Creek, and Fairfield.
Average noise level (dBA)
Antioch's 53.2 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. California as a whole averages 54.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Antioch because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 35.9% of Antioch 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, 42.2% of Antioch's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a California average of 36.0% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Antioch
- 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 State Rte 4 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 Antioch is under tree cover (much lighter than most cities), 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.
