Noise Levels in Brentwood-Darlington, Portland, OR | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
55 dBA
Average noise across Brentwood-Darlington
Quiet office to normal conversation
4,666
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
53% of Brentwood-Darlington residents
64 dBA
Loudest residential point
Busy restaurant
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Brentwood-Darlington 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 4,666 Brentwood-Darlington residents, or 53.2%, live above that level. By land area, 51.9% of Brentwood-Darlington is above 55 dBA.
48.1% below 55 dBA
51.9% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Brentwood-Darlington compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Brentwood-Darlington
Average noise levels for Brentwood-Darlington residents, grouped by direction from the center of Brentwood-Darlington. Central Brentwood-Darlington carries the highest population-weighted average; Northern Brentwood-Darlington carries the lowest. Just 49% of residents in Northern Brentwood-Darlington live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in Central Brentwood-Darlington.
Central Brentwood-Darlington
55.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Brentwood-Darlington
54.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Brentwood-Darlington
54.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Brentwood-Darlington
55.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Brentwood-Darlington
54.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Central Brentwood-Darlington sounds about 9% louder than Northern Brentwood-Darlington to the human ear, a 1.2 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 64 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
64 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
51 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
43 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
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 19% of Brentwood-Darlington sits under tree canopy (heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 48% 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
Portland International (PDX) sits north of Brentwood-Darlington. 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 Brentwood-Darlington, particularly to the south, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Brentwood-Darlington
The bar chart below shows the share of Brentwood-Darlington residents in each noise band. About 49% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 7% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Brentwood-Darlington Compares
Brentwood-Darlington sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Brentwood-Darlington's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Mount Tabor, Corbett-Terwilliger-Lair Hill, Mill Park, and Argay.
Average noise level (dBA)
Brentwood-Darlington's 54.9 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Oregon as a whole averages 52.9 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Brentwood-Darlington because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 53.2% of Brentwood-Darlington 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, 51.9% of Brentwood-Darlington's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Oregon average of 24.2% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Brentwood-Darlington
- 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 19% of Brentwood-Darlington is under tree cover (heavier 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. Portland International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the north. Neighborhoods to the south of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
