Noise Levels in Cardinal Hill-Pine Meadow, Lexington, KY | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sources & Methodology