This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Downtown Appleton 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 3,011 Downtown Appleton residents, or 68.0%, live above that level. By land area, 71.7% of Downtown Appleton is above 55 dBA.
See how noise in Downtown Appleton compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Downtown Appleton
Average noise levels for Downtown Appleton residents, grouped by direction from the center of Downtown Appleton. The highest population-weighted average is in southern Downtown Appleton; the lowest is in eastern Downtown Appleton, where just 70% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in the loudest section.
Southern Downtown Appleton
71% of people above 55 dBA
Northeastern Downtown Appleton
80% of people above 55 dBA
Western Downtown Appleton
86% of people above 55 dBA
Central Downtown Appleton
64% of people above 55 dBA
Eastern Downtown Appleton
70% of people above 55 dBA
To the human ear, noise in southern Downtown Appleton sounds about 18% louder than in eastern Downtown Appleton, a 2.4 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.
Rail Noise
Active freight rail runs through parts of Downtown Appleton. 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.
Airport Noise
Appleton International (ATW) sits west of Downtown Appleton. 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 Downtown Appleton, particularly to the east, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Downtown Appleton
The bar chart below shows the share of Downtown Appleton residents in each noise band. About 25% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 13% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Downtown Appleton Compares
Downtown Appleton sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how Downtown Appleton's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with bell-heights-appleton-wi, highland-park-appleton-wi, Fort Howard, and Menominee South.
Average noise level (dBA)
Downtown Appleton's 57.1 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. Wisconsin as a whole averages 53.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Downtown Appleton because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 68.0% of Downtown Appleton residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's more than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 71.7% of Downtown Appleton's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Wisconsin average of 29.6% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Downtown Appleton
- 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 Sth 096W 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 15% of Downtown Appleton 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.
- Airport noise is directional. Appleton International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the west. Neighborhoods to the east of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
Sources & Methodology
The BestNeighborhood noise model is calibrated against nearly one million federal ground-truth measurements across four states. Road noise is computed from segment-level federal traffic data and propagated outward using physics-based acoustic decay, with attenuation rates that depend on the surrounding land cover.
Federal datasets used:
FHWA Highway Performance Monitoring System: road geometry, traffic counts, lane configuration
U.S. DoT Bureau of Transportation Statistics National Transportation Noise Map: aviation and rail noise, road calibration ground truth
USGS / MRLC National Land Cover Database: land cover and impervious surface coverage
USDA Forest Service Tree Canopy Cover: vegetation density for sound propagation
U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line: block-level geography and population
U.S. EPA Levels Document: 55 dBA outdoor reference level
All inputs are published federal datasets. Block-level noise is computed by combining road, rail, and aviation sound sources in the energy domain, the same physics used in professional environmental noise assessments. Read the full methodology.