Noise Levels in Bario Logan, San Diego, CA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
59 dBA
Average noise across Bario Logan
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
10,427
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
70% of Bario Logan residents
86 dBA
Loudest residential point
Food blender at arm’s length
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Bario Logan 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 10,427 Bario Logan residents, or 70.3%, live above that level. By land area, 73.5% of Bario Logan is above 55 dBA.
26.5% below 55 dBA
73.5% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Bario Logan compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Bario Logan
Average noise levels for Bario Logan residents, grouped by direction from the center of Bario Logan. The highest population-weighted average is in northwestern Bario Logan; the lowest is in northern Bario Logan, where just 19% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a third of the share in the loudest section.
Northwestern Bario Logan
70.9 dBA · Loud
Highway traffic 50 ft away
Central Bario Logan
70.6 dBA · Loud
Highway traffic 50 ft away
Western Bario Logan
63.9 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Southern Bario Logan
55.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Bario Logan
52.1 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in northwestern Bario Logan sounds about 268% louder than in northern Bario Logan, a 18.8 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 San Diego Fwy do you need to be?
San Diego Fwy produces an estimated 80 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
80 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
65 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
57 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
49 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
40 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 2% of Bario Logan sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 71% 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 Bario Logan. 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.
Airport Noise
San Diego International (SAN) sits northwest of Bario Logan. The U.S. Department of Transportation measures aviation noise around this airport directly, 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 75 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Bario Logan, particularly to the southeast, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Bario Logan
The bar chart below shows the share of Bario Logan residents in each noise band. About 24% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 38% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Bario Logan Compares
Bario Logan sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how Bario Logan's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Mountain View San Diego, Encanto, Lincoln Park, and Downtown Chula Vista.
Average noise level (dBA)
Bario Logan's 59.0 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. California as a whole averages 54.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Bario Logan because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 70.3% of Bario Logan residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's more than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 73.5% of Bario Logan'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 Bario Logan
- 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 San Diego Fwy 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 2% of Bario Logan is under tree cover (much lighter than most 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 Diego International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northwest. Neighborhoods to the southeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
