Noise Levels in Colonial Heights, Sacramento, CA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
52 dBA
Average noise across Colonial Heights
Quiet office to normal conversation
720
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
28% of Colonial Heights residents
71 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Colonial Heights 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 720 Colonial Heights residents, or 28.0%, live above that level. By land area, 36.3% of Colonial Heights is above 55 dBA.
63.7% below 55 dBA
36.3% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Colonial Heights compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Colonial Heights
Average noise levels for Colonial Heights residents, grouped by direction from the center of Colonial Heights. The highest population-weighted average is in central Colonial Heights; the lowest is in southeastern Colonial Heights, where just 19% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in the loudest section.
Central Colonial Heights
58.6 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western Colonial Heights
56.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southeastern Colonial Heights
52.0 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in central Colonial Heights sounds about 58% louder than in southeastern Colonial Heights, a 6.6 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 do you need to be?
produces an estimated 71 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
71 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
57 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
49 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
41 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 7% of Colonial Heights sits under tree canopy (lighter than most 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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Airport Noise
Sacramento International (SMF) sits northwest of Colonial Heights. The U.S. Department of Transportation models aviation noise around this airport from federal traffic data, 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 45 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Colonial Heights, particularly to the southeast, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Colonial Heights
The bar chart below shows the share of Colonial Heights residents in each noise band. About 74% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 2% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Colonial Heights Compares
Colonial Heights sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Colonial Heights's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Colonial Manor, south-east-sacramento-sacramento-ca, Richmond Grove, and south-american-river-industrial-park-sacramento-ca.
Average noise level (dBA)
Colonial Heights's 52.3 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. California as a whole averages 54.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Colonial Heights because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 28.0% of Colonial Heights residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's fewer than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 36.3% of Colonial Heights's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a California average of 36.0% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Colonial Heights
- 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 7% of Colonial Heights is under tree cover (lighter than most neighborhoods), 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.
- Airport noise is directional. Sacramento International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northwest. Neighborhoods to the southeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
