Noise Levels in Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow, Lexington, KY | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
52 dBA
Average noise across Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow
Quiet office to normal conversation
861
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
18% of Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow residents
69 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow 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 861 Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow residents, or 18.5%, live above that level. By land area, 21.4% of Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow is above 55 dBA.
78.6% below 55 dBA
21.4% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow
Average noise levels for Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow residents, grouped by direction from the center of Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow. The highest population-weighted average is in southeastern Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow; the lowest is in central Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow, where just 13% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in the loudest section.
Southeastern Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow
55.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northwestern Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow
51.6 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Central Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow
50.9 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
To the human ear, noise in southeastern Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow sounds about 35% louder than in central Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow, a 4.3 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 US Hwy 60 Byp do you need to be?
US Hwy 60 Byp produces an estimated 69 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
69 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
165 ft
56 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
49 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
41 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 20% of Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow sits under tree canopy (heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 43% 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
Blue Grass (LEX) sits west of Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow. 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 Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow, particularly to the east, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow
The bar chart below shows the share of Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow residents in each noise band. About 83% 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 Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow Compares
Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Chevy Chase-Ashland Park, Holiday Hills, Virginia Ave, and Garden Springs.
Average noise level (dBA)
Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow's 52.0 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Kentucky as a whole averages 50.5 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 18.5% of Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's fewer than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 21.4% of Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Kentucky average of 23.2% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow
- 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 US Hwy 60 Byp 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 20% of Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow is under tree cover (heavier than most neighborhoods), 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.
- Airport noise is directional. Blue Grass's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the west. Neighborhoods to the east of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
