Noise Levels in Dundee, NY | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
45 dBA
Average noise across Dundee
Quiet suburban street at night
257
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
6% of Dundee residents
81 dBA
Loudest residential point
Food blender at arm’s length
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Dundee 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 257 Dundee residents, or 5.8%, live above that level. By land area, 6.6% of Dundee is above 55 dBA.
93.4% below 55 dBA
6.6% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Dundee compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Dundee
Average noise levels for Dundee residents, grouped by direction from the center of Dundee. The highest population-weighted average is in eastern Dundee; the lowest is in southwestern Dundee, where just 1% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a third of the share in the loudest section.
Eastern Dundee
63.1 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Northeastern Dundee
49.2 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Northern Dundee
44.1 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Northwestern Dundee
42.6 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Southwestern Dundee
42.5 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
To the human ear, noise in eastern Dundee sounds about 317% louder than in southwestern Dundee, a 20.6 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 Mud Lake Hammond do you need to be?
Mud Lake Hammond 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
47 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
41 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 40% of Dundee sits under tree canopy (about average for cities) and roughly 6% 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 Dundee. 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 Dundee
The bar chart below shows the share of Dundee residents in each noise band. About 96% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 0% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Dundee Compares
Dundee sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Dundee's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Trumansburg, Watkins Glen, Newfield, and Painted Post.
Average noise level (dBA)
Dundee's 45.2 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. New York as a whole averages 55.4 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Dundee because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 5.8% of Dundee 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, 6.6% of Dundee's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a New York average of 30.9% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Dundee
- 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 Mud Lake Hammond 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 40% of Dundee is under tree cover (about average for cities), and the dominant land cover is pasture / hay. 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.
