Noise Levels in Burnt Bridge Creek, Vancouver, WA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
53 dBA
Average noise across Burnt Bridge Creek
Quiet office to normal conversation
1,126
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
27% of Burnt Bridge Creek residents
64 dBA
Loudest residential point
Busy restaurant
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Burnt Bridge Creek 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 1,126 Burnt Bridge Creek residents, or 27.1%, live above that level. By land area, 28.7% of Burnt Bridge Creek is above 55 dBA.
71.3% below 55 dBA
28.7% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Burnt Bridge Creek compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Burnt Bridge Creek
Average noise levels for Burnt Bridge Creek residents, grouped by direction from the center of Burnt Bridge Creek. The highest population-weighted average is in southeastern Burnt Bridge Creek; the lowest is in northwestern Burnt Bridge Creek, where just 13% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in the loudest section.
Southeastern Burnt Bridge Creek
55.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Burnt Bridge Creek
54.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southwestern Burnt Bridge Creek
53.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northeastern Burnt Bridge Creek
51.1 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northwestern Burnt Bridge Creek
51.1 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in southeastern Burnt Bridge Creek sounds about 38% louder than in northwestern Burnt Bridge Creek, a 4.6 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 NE 39TH St do you need to be?
NE 39TH St produces an estimated 52 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
52 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
165 ft
39 dBA
Soft rainfall
330 ft
35 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 24% of Burnt Bridge Creek sits under tree canopy (heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 42% 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 southwest of Burnt Bridge Creek. 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 Burnt Bridge Creek, 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 Burnt Bridge Creek
The bar chart below shows the share of Burnt Bridge Creek residents in each noise band. About 72% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 0% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Burnt Bridge Creek Compares
Burnt Bridge Creek sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Burnt Bridge Creek's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Mountain View, Countryside Woods, Vancouver Heights, and Ogden.
Average noise level (dBA)
Burnt Bridge Creek's 52.7 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Washington as a whole averages 51.3 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Burnt Bridge Creek because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 27.1% of Burnt Bridge Creek 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, 28.7% of Burnt Bridge Creek's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Washington average of 27.7% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Burnt Bridge Creek
- 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 NE 39TH 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 24% of Burnt Bridge Creek 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 southwest. Neighborhoods to the northeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
