Noise Levels in Circleville Historic District, Circleville, OH | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
56 dBA
Average noise across Circleville Historic District
Quiet office to normal conversation
1,821
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
51% of Circleville Historic District residents
88 dBA
Loudest residential point
Lawnmower at 1 m
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Circleville Historic District 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 1,821 Circleville Historic District residents, or 50.8%, live above that level. By land area, 63.6% of Circleville Historic District is above 55 dBA.
36.4% below 55 dBA
63.6% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Circleville Historic District compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Circleville Historic District
Average noise levels for Circleville Historic District residents, grouped by direction from the center of Circleville Historic District. The highest population-weighted average is in southwestern Circleville Historic District; the lowest is in northern Circleville Historic District, where just 28% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in the loudest section.
Southwestern Circleville Historic District
69.1 dBA · Loud
Highway traffic 50 ft away
Northwestern Circleville Historic District
62.2 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Southeastern Circleville Historic District
55.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Circleville Historic District
54.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Circleville Historic District
54.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in southwestern Circleville Historic District sounds about 175% louder than in northern Circleville Historic District, a 14.6 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-23 do you need to be?
US-23 produces an estimated 67 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
67 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
165 ft
53 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
330 ft
45 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
660 ft
37 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 12% of Circleville Historic District sits under tree canopy (about average for neighborhoods) and roughly 49% 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 Circleville Historic District. 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 Circleville Historic District
The bar chart below shows the share of Circleville Historic District residents in each noise band. About 31% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 5% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Circleville Historic District Compares
Circleville Historic District sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Circleville Historic District's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with South Central Accord, Olde Orchard, Fort Columbus Airport, and Leawood.
Average noise level (dBA)
Circleville Historic District's 56.0 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Ohio as a whole averages 51.1 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Circleville Historic District because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 50.8% of Circleville Historic District 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, 63.6% of Circleville Historic District's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Ohio average of 26.4% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Circleville Historic District
- 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-23 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 Circleville Historic District is under tree cover (about average for 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.
