Noise Levels in Cedar Hills-Cedar Mill, Portland, OR | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map

Rail Noise

Active freight rail runs through parts of Cedar Hills-Cedar Mill. 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

Portland International (PDX) sits northeast of Cedar Hills-Cedar Mill. 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 Hills-Cedar Mill, particularly to the southwest, 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 Hills-Cedar Mill

The bar chart below shows the share of Cedar Hills-Cedar Mill residents in each noise band. About 56% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 14% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.

How Cedar Hills-Cedar Mill Compares

Cedar Hills-Cedar Mill sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Cedar Hills-Cedar Mill's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Northwest, Central Beaverton, Sommerset West-Elmonica South, and Far Southwest.

Average noise level (dBA)

Cedar Hills-Cedar Mill's 55.2 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Oregon as a whole averages 52.9 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Cedar Hills-Cedar Mill because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.

Share of residents above 55 dBA

About 38.5% of Cedar Hills-Cedar Mill residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's fewer than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 44.6% of Cedar Hills-Cedar Mill's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Oregon average of 24.2% and a national average of 28.1%.

What This Means if You're Moving to Cedar Hills-Cedar Mill

• 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 US Route 26 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 26% of Cedar Hills-Cedar Mill is under tree cover (heavier 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. Portland International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northeast. Neighborhoods to the southwest of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.

Sources & Methodology