Noise Levels in El Portal, CA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
52 dBA
Average noise across El Portal
Quiet office to normal conversation
106
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
30% of El Portal residents
68 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across El Portal 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 106 El Portal residents, or 30.4%, live above that level. By land area, 30.9% of El Portal is above 55 dBA.
69.1% below 55 dBA
30.9% above 55 dBA
See how noise in El Portal compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of El Portal
Average noise levels for El Portal residents, grouped by direction from the center of El Portal. Eastern El Portal carries the highest population-weighted average; Western El Portal carries the lowest. Just 17% of residents in Western El Portal live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a third of the share in Eastern El Portal.
Central El Portal
54.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern El Portal
55.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western El Portal
50.1 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
Eastern El Portal sounds about 47% louder than Western El Portal to the human ear, a 5.6 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 do you need to be?
produces an estimated 68 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
68 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
165 ft
53 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
330 ft
45 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
660 ft
36 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 10% of El Portal sits under tree canopy (lighter 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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How Noise Is Distributed Across El Portal
The bar chart below shows the share of El Portal residents in each noise band. About 73% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 2% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How El Portal Compares
El Portal sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how El Portal's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Yosemite National Park, Foresta, Mount Bullion, and Big Oak Flat.
Average noise level (dBA)
El Portal's 52.1 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. California as a whole averages 54.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than El Portal because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 30.4% of El Portal 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, 30.9% of El Portal'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 El Portal
- 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 10% of El Portal is under tree cover (lighter than most cities), and the dominant land cover is shrub / scrub. 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.
