Noise Levels in Cedar Hill, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
49 dBA
Average noise across Cedar Hill
Quiet office
5,278
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
18% of Cedar Hill residents
79 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Cedar Hill 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 5,278 Cedar Hill residents, or 18.4%, live above that level. By land area, 23.1% of Cedar Hill is above 55 dBA.
76.9% below 55 dBA
23.1% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Cedar Hill compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Cedar Hill
Average noise levels for Cedar Hill residents, grouped by direction from the center of Cedar Hill. Northern Cedar Hill carries the highest population-weighted average; Central Cedar Hill carries the lowest. Just 0% of residents in Central Cedar Hill live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in Northern Cedar Hill.
Central Cedar Hill
45.5 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Eastern Cedar Hill
51.5 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Cedar Hill
51.7 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Cedar Hill
45.9 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Western Cedar Hill
48.6 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Northern Cedar Hill sounds about 54% louder than Central Cedar Hill to the human ear, a 6.2 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 J Elmer Weaver Fwy do you need to be?
J Elmer Weaver Fwy produces an estimated 76 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
76 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
62 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
54 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
46 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
38 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 12% of Cedar Hill sits under tree canopy (lighter than most cities) and roughly 46% 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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Airport Noise
Dallas Love Field (DAL) sits north of Cedar Hill. 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 Cedar Hill, particularly to the south, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Cedar Hill
The bar chart below shows the share of Cedar Hill residents in each noise band. About 82% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 4% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Cedar Hill Compares
Cedar Hill sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Cedar Hill's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Duncanville, Lancaster, Midlothian, and DeSoto.
Average noise level (dBA)
Cedar Hill's 49.4 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Cedar Hill because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 18.4% of Cedar Hill 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, 23.1% of Cedar Hill'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 Cedar Hill
- 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 J Elmer Weaver Fwy 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 12% of Cedar Hill is under tree cover (lighter than most cities), 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. Dallas Love Field's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the north. Neighborhoods to the south of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
