Noise Levels in Duboce Triangle, San Francisco, CA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
55 dBA
Average noise across Duboce Triangle
Quiet office to normal conversation
3,104
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
37% of Duboce Triangle residents
66 dBA
Loudest residential point
Busy restaurant
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Duboce Triangle 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 3,104 Duboce Triangle residents, or 37.0%, live above that level. By land area, 37.6% of Duboce Triangle is above 55 dBA.
62.4% below 55 dBA
37.6% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Duboce Triangle compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Duboce Triangle
Average noise levels for Duboce Triangle residents, grouped by direction from the center of Duboce Triangle. The highest population-weighted average is in eastern Duboce Triangle; the lowest is in western Duboce Triangle, where just 45% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in the loudest section.
Eastern Duboce Triangle
55.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Central Duboce Triangle
55.4 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northwestern Duboce Triangle
53.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Duboce Triangle
53.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in eastern Duboce Triangle sounds about 21% louder than in western Duboce Triangle, a 2.7 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 do you need to be?
produces an estimated 66 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
66 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
51 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
43 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
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 8% of Duboce Triangle sits under tree canopy (lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 71% 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
San Francisco International (SFO) sits south of Duboce Triangle. 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 75 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Duboce Triangle, particularly to the north, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Duboce Triangle
The bar chart below shows the share of Duboce Triangle residents in each noise band. About 56% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 20% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Duboce Triangle Compares
Duboce Triangle sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Duboce Triangle's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Presidio Heights, Silver Terrace, Cole Valley, and Outer Mission.
Average noise level (dBA)
Duboce Triangle's 54.7 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. California as a whole averages 54.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Duboce Triangle because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 37.0% of Duboce Triangle 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, 37.6% of Duboce Triangle's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a California average of 36.0% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Duboce Triangle
- 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 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 8% of Duboce Triangle is under tree cover (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. San Francisco International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the south. Neighborhoods to the north of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
