Noise Levels in Deer Island, OR | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
45 dBA
Average noise across Deer Island
Quiet suburban street at night
46
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
3% of Deer Island residents
92 dBA
Loudest residential point
Power saw
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Deer Island 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 46 Deer Island residents, or 2.8%, live above that level. By land area, 8.9% of Deer Island is above 55 dBA.
91.1% below 55 dBA
8.9% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Deer Island compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Deer Island
Average noise levels for Deer Island residents, grouped by direction from the center of Deer Island. Southern Deer Island carries the highest population-weighted average; Northern Deer Island carries the lowest. Just 2% of residents in Northern Deer Island live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in Southern Deer Island.
Eastern Deer Island
45.6 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Northern Deer Island
43.0 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Southern Deer Island
47.6 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Western Deer Island
44.5 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Southern Deer Island sounds about 38% louder than Northern Deer Island to the human ear, a 4.6 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 US Route 30 do you need to be?
US Route 30 produces an estimated 64 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
64 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
53 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
330 ft
46 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
40 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 43% of Deer Island sits under tree canopy (heavier than most cities) and roughly 3% 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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Rail Noise
Active freight rail runs through parts of Deer Island. For most blocks the rail-only contribution is small. Combined road-plus-rail noise rarely exceeds road noise on its own. The exceptions are the handful of blocks within roughly a quarter mile of the right-of-way during pass-through hours.
Use the Rail toggle on the map above to isolate rail's contribution from road and aviation.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Deer Island
The bar chart below shows the share of Deer Island 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 Deer Island Compares
Deer Island sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Deer Island's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with South Scappoose, Columbia City, Warren, and Vernonia.
Average noise level (dBA)
Deer Island's 45.0 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 Deer Island because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 2.8% of Deer Island 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, 8.9% of Deer Island'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 Deer Island
- 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 US Route 30 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 43% of Deer Island is under tree cover (heavier than most cities), and the dominant land cover is pasture / hay. 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.
