Noise Levels in Carrick, Pittsburgh, PA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
56 dBA
Average noise across Carrick
Quiet office to normal conversation
5,755
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
52% of Carrick residents
71 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Carrick 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 5,755 Carrick residents, or 52.1%, live above that level. By land area, 56.8% of Carrick is above 55 dBA.
43.2% below 55 dBA
56.8% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Carrick compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Carrick
Average noise levels for Carrick residents, grouped by direction from the center of Carrick. The highest population-weighted average is in northwestern Carrick; the lowest is in eastern Carrick, where just 40% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in the loudest section.
Northwestern Carrick
57.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western Carrick
57.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southern Carrick
56.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southeastern Carrick
56.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern Carrick
55.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in northwestern Carrick sounds about 15% louder than in eastern Carrick, a 2.0 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 H187 Becks Run Rd do you need to be?
H187 Becks Run Rd produces an estimated 62 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
62 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
49 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
41 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 25% of Carrick 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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Rail Noise
Active freight rail runs through parts of Carrick. 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
Pittsburgh International (PIT) sits northwest of Carrick. 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 Carrick, particularly to the southeast, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Carrick
The bar chart below shows the share of Carrick residents in each noise band. About 36% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 11% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Carrick Compares
Carrick sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Carrick's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Brookline, Squirrel Hill North, Shadyside, and whitehall.
Average noise level (dBA)
Carrick's 55.7 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. Pennsylvania as a whole averages 52.9 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Carrick because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 52.1% of Carrick 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, 56.8% of Carrick's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Pennsylvania average of 33.5% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Carrick
- 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 H187 Becks Run Rd 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 25% of Carrick 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. Pittsburgh International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northwest. Neighborhoods to the southeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
