Noise Levels in Central Gardens, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
52 dBA
Average noise across Central Gardens
Quiet office to normal conversation
598
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
23% of Central Gardens residents
73 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Central 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 598 Central Gardens residents, or 22.7%, live above that level. By land area, 26.0% of Central Gardens is above 55 dBA.
74.0% below 55 dBA
26.0% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Central Gardens compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Central Gardens
Average noise levels for Central Gardens residents, grouped by direction from the center of Central Gardens. The highest population-weighted average is in northern Central Gardens; the lowest is in eastern Central Gardens, where just 20% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in the loudest section.
Northern Central Gardens
66.0 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Southern Central Gardens
58.3 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Central Central Gardens
55.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northeastern Central Gardens
52.7 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Central Gardens
52.4 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in northern Central Gardens sounds about 157% louder than in eastern Central Gardens, a 13.6 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 US Hwy 69 do you need to be?
US Hwy 69 produces an estimated 73 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
73 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
58 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
50 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
41 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 15% of Central Gardens sits under tree canopy (lighter than most cities) and roughly 37% 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 Central 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.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Central Gardens
The bar chart below shows the share of Central Gardens residents in each noise band. About 73% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 10% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Central Gardens Compares
Central Gardens sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Central Gardens's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Pine Forest, West Orange, Mauriceville, and Beauxart Gardens.
Average noise level (dBA)
Central Gardens's 52.1 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Central Gardens because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 22.7% of Central Gardens 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, 26.0% of Central Gardens'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 Central 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 US Hwy 69 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 15% of Central Gardens is under tree cover (lighter than most cities), 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.
