Noise Levels in Crest Drive, Eugene, OR | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
52 dBA
Average noise across Crest Drive
Quiet office to normal conversation
2,100
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
30% of Crest Drive residents
60 dBA
Loudest residential point
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Crest Drive 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 2,100 Crest Drive residents, or 29.5%, live above that level. By land area, 34.0% of Crest Drive is above 55 dBA.
66.0% below 55 dBA
34.0% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Crest Drive compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Crest Drive
Average noise levels for Crest Drive residents, grouped by direction from the center of Crest Drive. The highest population-weighted average is in eastern Crest Drive; the lowest is in southern Crest Drive, where just 7% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a third of the share in the loudest section.
Eastern Crest Drive
53.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northwestern Crest Drive
53.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Central Crest Drive
52.0 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southwestern Crest Drive
49.4 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Southern Crest Drive
47.3 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
To the human ear, noise in eastern Crest Drive sounds about 56% louder than in southern Crest Drive, a 6.4 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 60 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
60 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
47 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
39 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 54% of Crest Drive sits under tree canopy (much heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 22% 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
Mahlon Sweet Field (EUG) sits northwest of Crest Drive. 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 55 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Crest Drive, 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 Crest Drive
The bar chart below shows the share of Crest Drive residents in each noise band. About 86% 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 Crest Drive Compares
Crest Drive sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Crest Drive's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Friendly, River Road, Far West Eugene, and Jefferson Westside.
Average noise level (dBA)
Crest Drive's 52.5 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Oregon as a whole averages 52.9 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Crest Drive because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 29.5% of Crest Drive 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, 34.0% of Crest Drive's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Oregon average of 24.2% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Crest Drive
- 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 54% of Crest Drive is under tree cover (much heavier 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. Mahlon Sweet Field's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northwest. Neighborhoods to the southeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
