Noise Levels in Clinton, MA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
53 dBA
Average noise across Clinton
Quiet office to normal conversation
3,881
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
28% of Clinton residents
70 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Clinton 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 3,881 Clinton residents, or 28.4%, live above that level. By land area, 37.1% of Clinton is above 55 dBA.
62.9% below 55 dBA
37.1% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Clinton compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Clinton
Average noise levels for Clinton residents, grouped by direction from the center of Clinton. Central Clinton carries the highest population-weighted average; Northern Clinton carries the lowest. Just 24% of residents in Northern Clinton live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in Central Clinton.
Central Clinton
54.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Clinton
53.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Clinton
51.8 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Clinton
51.8 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Clinton
52.9 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Central Clinton sounds about 21% louder than Northern Clinton to the human ear, a 2.7 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 do you need to be?
produces an estimated 70 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
70 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
165 ft
58 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
51 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
44 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
37 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 46% of Clinton sits under tree canopy (heavier than most cities) and roughly 29% 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 Clinton. 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 Clinton
The bar chart below shows the share of Clinton residents in each noise band. About 74% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 3% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Clinton Compares
Clinton sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Clinton's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Northborough, Holden, Hudson, and Millbury.
Average noise level (dBA)
Clinton's 52.6 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Massachusetts as a whole averages 54.3 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Clinton because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 28.4% of Clinton 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, 37.1% of Clinton's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Massachusetts average of 40.0% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Clinton
- 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 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 46% of Clinton is under tree cover (heavier 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.
