Noise Levels in East Freetown, MA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
49 dBA
Average noise across East Freetown
Quiet office
534
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
9% of East Freetown residents
79 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across East Freetown 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 534 East Freetown residents, or 9.3%, live above that level. By land area, 18.4% of East Freetown is above 55 dBA.
81.6% below 55 dBA
18.4% above 55 dBA
See how noise in East Freetown compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of East Freetown
Average noise levels for East Freetown residents, grouped by direction from the center of East Freetown. The highest population-weighted average is in southeastern East Freetown; the lowest is in northern East Freetown, where just 8% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in the loudest section.
Southeastern East Freetown
57.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southern East Freetown
56.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southwestern East Freetown
54.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western East Freetown
53.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern East Freetown
51.8 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in southeastern East Freetown sounds about 53% louder than in northern East Freetown, a 6.1 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 Alfred M Bessette Memorial Hwy do you need to be?
Alfred M Bessette Memorial Hwy 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
59 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
51 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
43 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 64% of East Freetown sits under tree canopy (much heavier than most cities) and roughly 4% 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 East Freetown. 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 East Freetown
The bar chart below shows the share of East Freetown residents in each noise band. About 90% 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 East Freetown Compares
East Freetown sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how East Freetown's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Berkley, Rochester, Assonet, and Marion.
Average noise level (dBA)
East Freetown's 48.7 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Massachusetts as a whole averages 54.3 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than East Freetown because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 9.3% of East Freetown 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, 18.4% of East Freetown's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Massachusetts average of 40.0% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to East Freetown
- 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 Alfred M Bessette Memorial Hwy 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 64% of East Freetown is under tree cover (much heavier than most cities), and the dominant land cover is mixed forest. 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.
