Noise Levels in Duval County, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
46 dBA
Average noise across Duval County
Quiet suburban street at night
1,037
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
20% of Duval County residents
94 dBA
Loudest residential point
Power saw
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Duval County 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 1,037 Duval County residents, or 20.4%, live above that level. By land area, 12.5% of Duval County is above 55 dBA.
87.5% below 55 dBA
12.5% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Duval County compares to similar-sized counties.
Noise by Part of Duval County
Average noise levels for Duval County residents, grouped by direction from the center of Duval County. The highest population-weighted average is in the San Diego area (eastern Duval County); the lowest is in the Freer area (northwestern Duval County), where just 1% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
San Diego
53.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Duval County
49.4 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Freer
40.1 dBA · Quiet
Soft rainfall
To the human ear, noise in the San Diego area (eastern Duval County) sounds about 150% louder than in the Freer area (northwestern Duval County), a 13.2 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 94 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 quiet office to normal conversation.
At source
94 dBA
Power saw
165 ft
80 dBA
City bus interior
330 ft
72 dBA
City bus interior
660 ft
63 dBA
Busy restaurant
¼ mile
55 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
½ mile
47 dBA
Quiet office
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 4% of Duval County sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most counties) and roughly 26% 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.
-->
Rail Noise
Active freight rail runs through parts of Duval County. 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 Duval County
The bar chart below shows the share of Duval County residents in each noise band. About 78% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 4% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Duval County Compares
Duval County sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Duval County's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Brooks County, Live Oak County, Jim Hogg County, and Jim Wells County.
Average noise level (dBA)
Duval County's 46.0 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Duval County because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 20.4% of Duval County 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, 12.5% of Duval County's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Texas average of 22.8% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Duval County
- 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 4% of Duval County is under tree cover (much lighter than most counties), 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.
