Noise Levels in Burnet County, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
45 dBA
Average noise across Burnet County
Quiet suburban street at night
3,921
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
12% of Burnet County residents
80 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Burnet County 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 3,921 Burnet County residents, or 11.9%, live above that level. By land area, 12.7% of Burnet County is above 55 dBA.
87.3% below 55 dBA
12.7% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Burnet County compares to similar-sized counties.
Noise by Part of Burnet County
Average noise levels for Burnet County residents, grouped by direction from the center of Burnet County. The highest population-weighted average is in the Marble Falls area (southern Burnet County); the lowest is in southeastern Burnet County, where just 0% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
Marble Falls
49.2 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Burnet
49.1 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Eastern Burnet County
44.8 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Northwestern Burnet County
40.2 dBA · Quiet
Soft rainfall
Southeastern Burnet County
39.5 dBA · Quiet
Soft rainfall
To the human ear, noise in the Marble Falls area (southern Burnet County) sounds about 96% louder than in southeastern Burnet County, a 9.7 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 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 quiet suburban street at night.
At source
80 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
66 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
58 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
50 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 9% of Burnet County sits under tree canopy (lighter than most counties) and roughly 17% 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 Burnet County. 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.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Burnet County
The bar chart below shows the share of Burnet County residents in each noise band. About 88% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 4% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Burnet County Compares
Burnet County sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Burnet County's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Llano County, Lampasas County, Coryell County, and Gillespie County.
Average noise level (dBA)
Burnet County's 45.2 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Burnet County because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 11.9% of Burnet County 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, 12.7% of Burnet County's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Texas average of 22.8% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Burnet County
- 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 9% of Burnet County is under tree cover (lighter than most counties), and the dominant land cover is low-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.
