Noise Levels in Coleman, MD | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
42 dBA
Average noise across Coleman
Quiet suburban street at night
2
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
1% of Coleman residents
58 dBA
Loudest residential point
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Coleman 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 2 Coleman residents, or 0.9%, live above that level. By land area, 0.9% of Coleman is above 55 dBA.
99.1% below 55 dBA
0.9% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Coleman compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Coleman
Average noise levels for Coleman residents, grouped by direction from the center of Coleman. Eastern Coleman carries the highest population-weighted average; Southern Coleman carries the lowest. Just 0% of residents in Southern Coleman live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in Eastern Coleman.
Eastern Coleman
43.3 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Northern Coleman
42.1 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Southern Coleman
41.3 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Eastern Coleman sounds about 15% louder than Southern Coleman to the human ear, a 2.0 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 58 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
58 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
43 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
330 ft
35 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 58% of Coleman sits under tree canopy (heavier than most cities) and roughly 0% 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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How Noise Is Distributed Across Coleman
The bar chart below shows the share of Coleman residents in each noise band. About 100% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 0% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Coleman Compares
Coleman sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Coleman's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Still Pond, Betterton, Kingstown, and White Crystal Beach.
Average noise level (dBA)
Coleman's 42.1 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Maryland as a whole averages 52.3 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Coleman because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 0.9% of Coleman 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, 0.9% of Coleman's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Maryland average of 32.9% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Coleman
- 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 58% of Coleman is under tree cover (heavier than most cities), and the dominant land cover is deciduous forest. 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.
