Noise Levels in Briarfield, Newport News, VA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
56 dBA
Average noise across Briarfield
Quiet office to normal conversation
1,652
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
43% of Briarfield residents
81 dBA
Loudest residential point
Food blender at arm’s length
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Briarfield 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 1,652 Briarfield residents, or 43.4%, live above that level. By land area, 45.4% of Briarfield is above 55 dBA.
54.6% below 55 dBA
45.4% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Briarfield compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Briarfield
Average noise levels for Briarfield residents, grouped by direction from the center of Briarfield. Southern Briarfield carries the highest population-weighted average; Eastern Briarfield carries the lowest. Just 16% of residents in Eastern Briarfield live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a third of the share in Southern Briarfield.
Central Briarfield
56.6 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern Briarfield
50.6 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
Northern Briarfield
52.2 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Briarfield
59.5 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western Briarfield
55.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Briarfield sounds about 85% louder than Eastern Briarfield to the human ear, a 8.9 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 81 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
81 dBA
Food blender at arm’s length
165 ft
67 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
330 ft
59 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
51 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
42 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 27% of Briarfield 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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Rail Noise
Active freight rail runs through parts of Briarfield. 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
Norfolk International (ORF) sits southeast of Briarfield. 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 Briarfield, particularly to the northwest, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Briarfield
The bar chart below shows the share of Briarfield residents in each noise band. About 42% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 19% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Briarfield Compares
Briarfield sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Briarfield's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Newmarket South, Saunders, Downtown Newport News, and Lamberts Point.
Average noise level (dBA)
Briarfield's 55.6 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Virginia as a whole averages 52.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Briarfield because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 43.4% of Briarfield 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, 45.4% of Briarfield's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Virginia average of 30.0% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Briarfield
- 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 27% of Briarfield 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. Norfolk International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the southeast. Neighborhoods to the northwest of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
