This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Craig Ranch North 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 307 Craig Ranch North residents, or 18.4%, live above that level. By land area, 25.0% of Craig Ranch North is above 55 dBA.
See how noise in Craig Ranch North compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Craig Ranch North
Average noise levels for Craig Ranch North residents, grouped by direction from the center of Craig Ranch North. The highest population-weighted average is in southern Craig Ranch North; the lowest is in northwestern Craig Ranch North, where just 4% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
Southern Craig Ranch North
25% of people above 55 dBA
Southeastern Craig Ranch North
25% of people above 55 dBA
Central Craig Ranch North
12% of people above 55 dBA
Northeastern Craig Ranch North
10% of people above 55 dBA
Northwestern Craig Ranch North
4% of people above 55 dBA
To the human ear, noise in southern Craig Ranch North sounds about 28% louder than in northwestern Craig Ranch North, a 3.6 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.
Airport Noise
Dallas-Fort Worth International (DFW) sits southwest of Craig Ranch North. 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 75 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Craig Ranch North, particularly to the northeast, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Craig Ranch North
The bar chart below shows the share of Craig Ranch North residents in each noise band. About 84% 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 Craig Ranch North Compares
Craig Ranch North sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Craig Ranch North's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with frisco-south-shopping-center-frisco-tx, parkway-mckinney-tx, frisco-square-frisco-tx, and the-centre-at-preston-ridge-frisco-tx.
Average noise level (dBA)
Craig Ranch North's 49.0 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Craig Ranch North because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 18.4% of Craig Ranch North 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, 25.0% of Craig Ranch North's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Texas average of 22.8% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Craig Ranch North
- 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 15% of Craig Ranch North 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.
- Airport noise is directional. Dallas-Fort Worth International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the southwest. Neighborhoods to the northeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
Sources & Methodology
The BestNeighborhood noise model is calibrated against nearly one million federal ground-truth measurements across four states. Road noise is computed from segment-level federal traffic data and propagated outward using physics-based acoustic decay, with attenuation rates that depend on the surrounding land cover.
Federal datasets used:
FHWA Highway Performance Monitoring System: road geometry, traffic counts, lane configuration
U.S. DoT Bureau of Transportation Statistics National Transportation Noise Map: aviation and rail noise, road calibration ground truth
USGS / MRLC National Land Cover Database: land cover and impervious surface coverage
USDA Forest Service Tree Canopy Cover: vegetation density for sound propagation
U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line: block-level geography and population
U.S. EPA Levels Document: 55 dBA outdoor reference level
All inputs are published federal datasets. Block-level noise is computed by combining road, rail, and aviation sound sources in the energy domain, the same physics used in professional environmental noise assessments. Read the full methodology.