Noise Levels in Bronzeville, Chicago, IL | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
56 dBA
Average noise across Bronzeville
Quiet office to normal conversation
3,090
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
65% of Bronzeville residents
71 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Bronzeville 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 3,090 Bronzeville residents, or 65.1%, live above that level. By land area, 74.0% of Bronzeville is above 55 dBA.
26.0% below 55 dBA
74.0% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Bronzeville compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Bronzeville
Average noise levels for Bronzeville residents, grouped by direction from the center of Bronzeville. The highest population-weighted average is in northern Bronzeville; the lowest is in southern Bronzeville, where just 56% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in the loudest section.
Northern Bronzeville
58.3 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southeastern Bronzeville
57.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southwestern Bronzeville
57.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Central Bronzeville
57.6 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southern Bronzeville
57.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
To the human ear, noise in northern Bronzeville sounds about 9% louder than in southern Bronzeville, a 1.3 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 St do you need to be?
State St produces an estimated 57 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
57 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
43 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
330 ft
36 dBA
Soft rainfall
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 2% of Bronzeville sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 70% 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 Bronzeville. 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
Chicago Midway International (MDW) sits southwest of Bronzeville. 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 Bronzeville, particularly to the northeast, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Bronzeville
The bar chart below shows the share of Bronzeville residents in each noise band. About 23% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 6% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Bronzeville Compares
Bronzeville sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Bronzeville's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Ducktown, Pilsen, Oakland, and Brainerd.
Average noise level (dBA)
Bronzeville's 56.0 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Illinois as a whole averages 52.6 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Bronzeville because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 65.1% of Bronzeville 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, 74.0% of Bronzeville's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Illinois average of 29.2% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Bronzeville
- 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 St 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 Bronzeville 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. Chicago Midway International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the southwest. Neighborhoods to the northeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
