Noise Levels in Castro County, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
44 dBA
Average noise across Castro County
Quiet suburban street at night
562
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
13% of Castro County residents
80 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Castro County 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 562 Castro County residents, or 12.8%, live above that level. By land area, 4.6% of Castro County is above 55 dBA.
95.4% below 55 dBA
4.6% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Castro County compares to similar-sized counties.
Noise by Part of Castro County
Average noise levels for Castro County residents, grouped by direction from the center of Castro County. The highest population-weighted average is in southeastern Castro County; the lowest is in eastern Castro County, where just 0% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
Southeastern Castro County
46.7 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Dimmitt
44.5 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Northern Castro County
43.1 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Western Castro County
41.7 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Eastern Castro County
39.3 dBA · Quiet
Soft rainfall
To the human ear, noise in southeastern Castro County sounds about 67% louder than in eastern Castro County, a 7.4 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 do you need to be?
produces an estimated 80 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 quiet suburban street at night.
At source
80 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
66 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
330 ft
58 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
51 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
43 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 0% of Castro County sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most counties) and roughly 23% 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 Castro County. 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.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Castro County
The bar chart below shows the share of Castro County residents in each noise band. About 90% 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 Castro County Compares
Castro County sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Castro County's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Swisher County, Parmer County, Bailey County, and Lamb County.
Average noise level (dBA)
Castro County's 44.5 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Castro County because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 12.8% of Castro County 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, 4.6% of Castro County's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Texas average of 22.8% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Castro County
- 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 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 0% of Castro County is under tree cover (much lighter than most counties), 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.
