Noise Levels in Downtown St Petersburg, St. Petersburg, FL | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
58 dBA
Average noise across Downtown St Petersburg
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
4,322
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
62% of Downtown St Petersburg residents
76 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Downtown St Petersburg 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 4,322 Downtown St Petersburg residents, or 61.5%, live above that level. By land area, 60.7% of Downtown St Petersburg is above 55 dBA.
39.3% below 55 dBA
60.7% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Downtown St Petersburg compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Downtown St Petersburg
Average noise levels for Downtown St Petersburg residents, grouped by direction from the center of Downtown St Petersburg. Western Downtown St Petersburg carries the highest population-weighted average; Eastern Downtown St Petersburg carries the lowest. Just 8% of residents in Eastern Downtown St Petersburg live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in Western Downtown St Petersburg.
Central Downtown St Petersburg
57.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern Downtown St Petersburg
51.5 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Downtown St Petersburg
55.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Downtown St Petersburg
57.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western Downtown St Petersburg
61.9 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Western Downtown St Petersburg sounds about 106% louder than Eastern Downtown St Petersburg to the human ear, a 10.4 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.
How far back from I-175 do you need to be?
I-175 produces an estimated 73 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
73 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
58 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
50 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
42 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 3% of Downtown St Petersburg sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 75% 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
Tampa International (TPA) sits northeast of Downtown St Petersburg. The U.S. Department of Transportation measures aviation noise around this airport directly, 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 50 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Downtown St Petersburg, particularly to the southwest, 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 St Petersburg
The bar chart below shows the share of Downtown St Petersburg residents in each noise band. About 35% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 26% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Downtown St Petersburg Compares
Downtown St Petersburg sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how Downtown St Petersburg's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Euclid-St Paul, Childs Park, Central Oak Park, and Disston Heights.
Average noise level (dBA)
Downtown St Petersburg's 57.7 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. Florida as a whole averages 51.6 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Downtown St Petersburg because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 61.5% of Downtown St Petersburg 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, 60.7% of Downtown St Petersburg's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Florida average of 31.8% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Downtown St Petersburg
- 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 I-175 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 3% of Downtown St Petersburg is under tree cover (much lighter than most 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. Tampa International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northeast. Neighborhoods to the southwest of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
