Noise Levels in Delta, Everett, WA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
54 dBA
Average noise across Delta
Quiet office to normal conversation
1,725
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
28% of Delta residents
75 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Delta 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 1,725 Delta residents, or 28.1%, live above that level. By land area, 39.6% of Delta is above 55 dBA.
60.4% below 55 dBA
39.6% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Delta compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Delta
Average noise levels for Delta residents, grouped by direction from the center of Delta. The highest population-weighted average is in southeastern Delta; the lowest is in northwestern Delta, where just 19% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in the loudest section.
Southeastern Delta
60.5 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northeastern Delta
59.4 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southern Delta
54.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Central Delta
53.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northwestern Delta
51.7 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in southeastern Delta sounds about 84% louder than in northwestern Delta, a 8.8 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 E Marine View Dr do you need to be?
E Marine View Dr produces an estimated 65 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
65 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
51 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
330 ft
44 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 17% of Delta sits under tree canopy (about average for neighborhoods) and roughly 53% 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 Delta. 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 Delta
The bar chart below shows the share of Delta residents in each noise band. About 64% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 19% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Delta Compares
Delta sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Delta's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Cascade View, Bayside, Port Gardner, and View Ridge-Madison.
Average noise level (dBA)
Delta's 53.9 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Washington as a whole averages 51.3 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Delta because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 28.1% of Delta 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, 39.6% of Delta's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Washington average of 27.7% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Delta
- 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 E Marine View Dr 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 17% of Delta 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.
