Noise Levels in Dam Neck Naval Air Station, Virginia Beach, VA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
50 dBA
Average noise across Dam Neck Naval Air Station
Quiet office
808
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
20% of Dam Neck Naval Air Station residents
65 dBA
Loudest residential point
Busy restaurant
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Dam Neck Naval Air Station 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 808 Dam Neck Naval Air Station residents, or 20.2%, live above that level. By land area, 26.2% of Dam Neck Naval Air Station is above 55 dBA.
73.8% below 55 dBA
26.2% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Dam Neck Naval Air Station compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Dam Neck Naval Air Station
Average noise levels for Dam Neck Naval Air Station residents, grouped by direction from the center of Dam Neck Naval Air Station. Western Dam Neck Naval Air Station carries the highest population-weighted average; Southern Dam Neck Naval Air Station carries the lowest. Just 3% of residents in Southern Dam Neck Naval Air Station live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in Western Dam Neck Naval Air Station.
Central Dam Neck Naval Air Station
42.8 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Northern Dam Neck Naval Air Station
53.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Dam Neck Naval Air Station
42.0 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Western Dam Neck Naval Air Station
53.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Dam Neck Naval Air Station sounds about 125% louder than Southern Dam Neck Naval Air Station to the human ear, a 11.7 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 General Booth Blvd do you need to be?
General Booth Blvd produces an estimated 62 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
62 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
50 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
43 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
660 ft
36 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 44% of Dam Neck Naval Air Station sits under tree canopy (much heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 31% 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
Norfolk International (ORF) sits northwest of Dam Neck Naval Air Station. 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 65 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Dam Neck Naval Air Station, 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 Dam Neck Naval Air Station
The bar chart below shows the share of Dam Neck Naval Air Station residents in each noise band. About 79% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 1% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Dam Neck Naval Air Station Compares
Dam Neck Naval Air Station sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Dam Neck Naval Air Station's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Huntington-Jefferson, Larrymore Lawns, East Ocean View, and Salt Meadow Bay.
Average noise level (dBA)
Dam Neck Naval Air Station's 50.0 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Virginia as a whole averages 52.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Dam Neck Naval Air Station because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 20.2% of Dam Neck Naval Air Station 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, 26.2% of Dam Neck Naval Air Station's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Virginia average of 30.0% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Dam Neck Naval Air Station
- 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 General Booth Blvd 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 44% of Dam Neck Naval Air Station is under tree cover (much heavier than most neighborhoods), and the dominant land cover is woody wetlands. 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. Norfolk International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northwest. Neighborhoods to the southeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
