Noise Levels in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, NY | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
62 dBA
Average noise across Carroll Gardens
Busy restaurant
21,242
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
93% of Carroll Gardens residents
85 dBA
Loudest residential point
Food blender at arm’s length
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Carroll Gardens 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 21,242 Carroll Gardens residents, or 92.7%, live above that level. By land area, 89.4% of Carroll Gardens is above 55 dBA.
10.6% below 55 dBA
89.4% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Carroll Gardens compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Carroll Gardens
Average noise levels for Carroll Gardens residents, grouped by direction from the center of Carroll Gardens. The highest population-weighted average is in western Carroll Gardens; the lowest is in northeastern Carroll Gardens, where just 86% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in the loudest section.
Western Carroll Gardens
74.2 dBA · Loud
City bus interior
Southern Carroll Gardens
66.0 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Eastern Carroll Gardens
62.7 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Southeastern Carroll Gardens
61.4 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Northeastern Carroll Gardens
61.2 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
To the human ear, noise in western Carroll Gardens sounds about 146% louder than in northeastern Carroll Gardens, a 13.0 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 I-278 do you need to be?
I-278 produces an estimated 63 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
63 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
49 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
41 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 1% of Carroll Gardens sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 79% 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 Carroll Gardens. 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
Newark Liberty International (EWR) sits west of Carroll Gardens. The U.S. Department of Transportation measures aviation noise around this airport directly, 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 75 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Carroll Gardens, 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 Carroll Gardens
The bar chart below shows the share of Carroll Gardens residents in each noise band. About 4% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 73% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Carroll Gardens Compares
Carroll Gardens sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Carroll Gardens's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Boerum Hill, Financial District, Clifton, and Murray Hill.
Average noise level (dBA)
Carroll Gardens's 62.5 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. New York as a whole averages 55.4 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Carroll Gardens because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 92.7% of Carroll Gardens 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, 89.4% of Carroll Gardens's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a New York average of 30.9% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Carroll Gardens
- 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 I-278 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 1% of Carroll Gardens is under tree cover (much lighter 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. Newark Liberty International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the west. Neighborhoods to the east of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
