Noise Levels in East Side, Long Beach, CA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
56 dBA
Average noise across East Side
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
17,790
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
63% of East Side residents
76 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across East Side 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 17,790 East Side residents, or 62.7%, live above that level. By land area, 65.9% of East Side is above 55 dBA.
34.1% below 55 dBA
65.9% above 55 dBA
See how noise in East Side compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of East Side
Average noise levels for East Side residents, grouped by direction from the center of East Side. The highest population-weighted average is in western East Side; the lowest is in southern East Side, where just 33% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in the loudest section.
Western East Side
62.0 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Central East Side
59.3 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southwestern East Side
56.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern East Side
54.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern East Side
53.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in western East Side sounds about 84% louder than in southern East Side, a 8.8 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 76 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
76 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
61 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
53 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
44 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
36 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 3% of East Side sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 70% 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
Long Beach (Daugherty Field) (LGB) sits north of East Side. 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 45 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of East Side, particularly to the south, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across East Side
The bar chart below shows the share of East Side residents in each noise band. About 36% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 8% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How East Side Compares
East Side sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how East Side's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Circle Area, Wrigley, Downtown Long Beach, and Poly High District.
Average noise level (dBA)
East Side's 56.1 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 East Side because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 62.7% of East Side 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, 65.9% of East Side'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 East Side
- 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 3% of East Side is under tree cover (much 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. Long Beach (Daugherty Field)'s approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the north. Neighborhoods to the south of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
