Noise Levels in Cayuga Heights, NY | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
51 dBA
Average noise across Cayuga Heights
Quiet office
828
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
23% of Cayuga Heights residents
74 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Cayuga Heights 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 828 Cayuga Heights residents, or 23.0%, live above that level. By land area, 30.0% of Cayuga Heights is above 55 dBA.
70.0% below 55 dBA
30.0% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Cayuga Heights compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Cayuga Heights
Average noise levels for Cayuga Heights residents, grouped by direction from the center of Cayuga Heights. Western Cayuga Heights carries the highest population-weighted average; Northern Cayuga Heights carries the lowest. Just 18% of residents in Northern Cayuga Heights live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in Western Cayuga Heights.
Central Cayuga Heights
49.8 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Eastern Cayuga Heights
52.4 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Cayuga Heights
48.5 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Southern Cayuga Heights
52.0 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Cayuga Heights
55.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Cayuga Heights sounds about 65% louder than Northern Cayuga Heights to the human ear, a 7.2 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 Hanshaw Rd do you need to be?
Hanshaw Rd produces an estimated 59 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
59 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
46 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
39 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 48% of Cayuga Heights sits under tree canopy (heavier than most cities) and roughly 16% 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.
-->
Rail Noise
Active freight rail runs through parts of Cayuga Heights. 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 Cayuga Heights
The bar chart below shows the share of Cayuga Heights residents in each noise band. About 86% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 2% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Cayuga Heights Compares
Cayuga Heights sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how Cayuga Heights's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Freeville, Dryden, Newfield, and Groton.
Average noise level (dBA)
Cayuga Heights's 50.9 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. New York as a whole averages 55.4 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Cayuga Heights because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 23.0% of Cayuga Heights residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's more than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 30.0% of Cayuga Heights'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 Cayuga Heights
- 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 Hanshaw 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 48% of Cayuga Heights is under tree cover (heavier than most cities), and the dominant land cover is low-density developed open space. 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.
