Noise Levels in Capitol, Madison, WI | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
60 dBA
Average noise across Capitol
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
20,671
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
75% of Capitol residents
74 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Capitol 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 20,671 Capitol residents, or 75.2%, live above that level. By land area, 77.9% of Capitol is above 55 dBA.
22.1% below 55 dBA
77.9% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Capitol compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Capitol
Average noise levels for Capitol residents, grouped by direction from the center of Capitol. The highest population-weighted average is in northeastern Capitol; the lowest is in northern Capitol, where just 53% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in the loudest section.
Northeastern Capitol
65.5 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Western Capitol
62.2 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Southeastern Capitol
60.3 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southwestern Capitol
58.6 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northern Capitol
57.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
To the human ear, noise in northeastern Capitol sounds about 77% louder than in northern Capitol, a 8.2 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 Ush 151N do you need to be?
Ush 151N produces an estimated 67 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
67 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
165 ft
52 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
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 3% of Capitol sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 73% 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 Capitol. 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
Dane County Regional/Truax Field (MSN) sits northeast of Capitol. 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 55 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Capitol, particularly to the southwest, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Capitol
The bar chart below shows the share of Capitol residents in each noise band. About 10% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 53% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Capitol Compares
Capitol sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Capitol's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Regent, Marquette, Tenney-Lapham, and South Campus.
Average noise level (dBA)
Capitol's 60.4 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. Wisconsin as a whole averages 53.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Capitol because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 75.2% of Capitol 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, 77.9% of Capitol's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Wisconsin average of 29.6% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Capitol
- 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 Ush 151N 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 3% of Capitol is under tree cover (much lighter than most neighborhoods), and the dominant land cover is high-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. Dane County Regional/Truax Field's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northeast. Neighborhoods to the southwest of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
