Noise Levels in Devon-Walnut Beach, Milford, CT | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
52 dBA
Average noise across Devon-Walnut Beach
Quiet office to normal conversation
2,909
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
28% of Devon-Walnut Beach residents
82 dBA
Loudest residential point
Food blender at arm’s length
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Devon-Walnut Beach 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 2,909 Devon-Walnut Beach residents, or 27.9%, live above that level. By land area, 37.5% of Devon-Walnut Beach is above 55 dBA.
62.5% below 55 dBA
37.5% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Devon-Walnut Beach compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Devon-Walnut Beach
Average noise levels for Devon-Walnut Beach residents, grouped by direction from the center of Devon-Walnut Beach. The highest population-weighted average is in northwestern Devon-Walnut Beach; the lowest is in eastern Devon-Walnut Beach, where just 12% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
Northwestern Devon-Walnut Beach
64.0 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Central Devon-Walnut Beach
57.4 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southeastern Devon-Walnut Beach
51.8 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Devon-Walnut Beach
48.4 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Eastern Devon-Walnut Beach
47.5 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
To the human ear, noise in northwestern Devon-Walnut Beach sounds about 214% louder than in eastern Devon-Walnut Beach, a 16.5 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 Milford Point Rd do you need to be?
Milford Point Rd produces an estimated 57 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
57 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
44 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
330 ft
37 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 24% of Devon-Walnut Beach sits under tree canopy (heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 40% 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.
-->
Rail Noise
Active freight rail runs through parts of Devon-Walnut Beach. 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 Devon-Walnut Beach
The bar chart below shows the share of Devon-Walnut Beach residents in each noise band. About 77% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 4% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Devon-Walnut Beach Compares
Devon-Walnut Beach sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Devon-Walnut Beach's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with East Side-Bridgeport, Boston Avenue-Mill Hill, North Bridgeport, and Brooklawn-St. Vincent.
Average noise level (dBA)
Devon-Walnut Beach's 52.2 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Connecticut as a whole averages 51.3 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Devon-Walnut Beach because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 27.9% of Devon-Walnut Beach 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, 37.5% of Devon-Walnut Beach's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Connecticut average of 27.3% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Devon-Walnut Beach
- 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 Milford Point Rd 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 24% of Devon-Walnut Beach is under tree cover (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.
