Noise Levels in Bradley Estates, Milwaukee, WI | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
54 dBA
Average noise across Bradley Estates
Quiet office to normal conversation
977
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
30% of Bradley Estates residents
73 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Bradley Estates 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 977 Bradley Estates residents, or 29.8%, live above that level. By land area, 51.5% of Bradley Estates is above 55 dBA.
48.5% below 55 dBA
51.5% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Bradley Estates compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Bradley Estates
Average noise levels for Bradley Estates residents, grouped by direction from the center of Bradley Estates. The highest population-weighted average is in western Bradley Estates; the lowest is in southeastern Bradley Estates, where just 48% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in the loudest section.
Western Bradley Estates
57.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Central Bradley Estates
57.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern Bradley Estates
56.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southeastern Bradley Estates
56.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
To the human ear, noise in western Bradley Estates sounds about 13% louder than in southeastern Bradley Estates, a 1.7 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 73 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
73 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
59 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
51 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
43 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 13% of Bradley Estates sits under tree canopy (about average for neighborhoods) and roughly 49% 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 Bradley Estates. 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
General Mitchell International (MKE) sits south of Bradley Estates. 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 Bradley Estates, particularly to the north, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Bradley Estates
The bar chart below shows the share of Bradley Estates residents in each noise band. About 61% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 18% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Bradley Estates Compares
Bradley Estates sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Bradley Estates's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Silver Swan, Valhalla, Columbus Park, and Dineen Park.
Average noise level (dBA)
Bradley Estates's 54.4 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Wisconsin as a whole averages 53.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Bradley Estates because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 29.8% of Bradley Estates 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, 51.5% of Bradley Estates's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Wisconsin average of 29.6% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Bradley Estates
- 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 13% of Bradley Estates 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. General Mitchell International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the south. Neighborhoods to the north of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
