Noise Levels in Charlotte Gardens, Bronx, NY | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
61 dBA
Average noise across Charlotte Gardens
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
25,432
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
97% of Charlotte Gardens residents
81 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Charlotte 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 25,432 Charlotte Gardens residents, or 97.1%, live above that level. By land area, 95.4% of Charlotte Gardens is above 55 dBA.
4.6% below 55 dBA
95.4% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Charlotte Gardens compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Charlotte Gardens
Average noise levels for Charlotte Gardens residents, grouped by direction from the center of Charlotte Gardens. The highest population-weighted average is in northwestern Charlotte Gardens; the lowest is in western Charlotte Gardens, where just 92% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in the loudest section.
Northwestern Charlotte Gardens
64.5 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Northern Charlotte Gardens
64.2 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Eastern Charlotte Gardens
61.9 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Southeastern Charlotte Gardens
60.4 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western Charlotte Gardens
59.9 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
To the human ear, noise in northwestern Charlotte Gardens sounds about 38% louder than in western Charlotte Gardens, a 4.6 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 Bruckner Expy do you need to be?
Bruckner Expy produces an estimated 61 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
61 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
47 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 3% of Charlotte Gardens sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 78% 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 Charlotte 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.
Airport Noise
Laguardia (LGA) sits south of Charlotte Gardens. The U.S. Department of Transportation measures aviation noise around this airport directly, 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 50 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Charlotte Gardens, particularly to the north, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Charlotte Gardens
The bar chart below shows the share of Charlotte Gardens residents in each noise band. About 2% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 62% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Charlotte Gardens Compares
Charlotte Gardens sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Charlotte Gardens's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with West Farms, Throgs Neck-Edgewater Park, Riverdale, and North Side.
Average noise level (dBA)
Charlotte Gardens's 60.9 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. New York as a whole averages 55.4 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Charlotte Gardens because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 97.1% of Charlotte Gardens 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, 95.4% of Charlotte Gardens'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 Charlotte 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 Bruckner Expy 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 3% of Charlotte Gardens is under tree cover (much lighter 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. Laguardia's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the south. Neighborhoods to the north of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
