Noise Levels in Duncan Park, Lexington, KY | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
57 dBA
Average noise across Duncan Park
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
3,332
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
63% of Duncan Park residents
71 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Duncan Park 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 3,332 Duncan Park residents, or 63.2%, live above that level. By land area, 64.2% of Duncan Park is above 55 dBA.
35.8% below 55 dBA
64.2% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Duncan Park compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Duncan Park
Average noise levels for Duncan Park residents, grouped by direction from the center of Duncan Park. The highest population-weighted average is in northern Duncan Park; the lowest is in southeastern Duncan Park, where just 45% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in the loudest section.
Northern Duncan Park
60.2 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western Duncan Park
59.8 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Central Duncan Park
58.3 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southern Duncan Park
57.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southeastern Duncan Park
57.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
To the human ear, noise in northern Duncan Park sounds about 25% louder than in southeastern Duncan Park, a 3.2 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 71 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
71 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 17% of Duncan Park sits under tree canopy (about average for neighborhoods) and roughly 46% 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 Duncan Park. 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
Blue Grass (LEX) sits west of Duncan Park. 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 Duncan Park, 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 Duncan Park
The bar chart below shows the share of Duncan Park residents in each noise band. About 18% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 12% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Duncan Park Compares
Duncan Park sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Duncan Park's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Downtown Lexington, Fairway-Liberty Heights, Kenawood-Rockwood, and Marriott's Griffin Gate Golf Culb.
Average noise level (dBA)
Duncan Park's 57.1 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. Kentucky as a whole averages 50.5 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Duncan Park because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 63.2% of Duncan Park 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, 64.2% of Duncan Park's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Kentucky average of 23.2% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Duncan Park
- 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 17% of Duncan Park is under tree cover (about average for 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.
- Airport noise is directional. Blue Grass's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the west. Neighborhoods to the east of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
