Noise Levels in Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes, Missoula, MT | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
54 dBA
Average noise across Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes
Quiet office to normal conversation
1,334
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
32% of Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes residents
70 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes 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 1,334 Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes residents, or 32.1%, live above that level. By land area, 37.9% of Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes is above 55 dBA.
62.1% below 55 dBA
37.9% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes
Average noise levels for Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes residents, grouped by direction from the center of Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes. Western Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes carries the highest population-weighted average; Central Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes carries the lowest. Just 25% of residents in Central Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in Western Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes.
Central Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes
53.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes
55.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes
55.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes
56.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes sounds about 27% louder than Central Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes to the human ear, a 3.4 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 70 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
70 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
165 ft
57 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
50 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
42 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 2% of Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 43% 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
Missoula Montana (MSO) sits northwest of Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes. 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 55 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes, particularly to the southeast, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes
The bar chart below shows the share of Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes residents in each noise band. About 66% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 3% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes Compares
Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Captain John Mullan, Rose Park, Moose Can Gully, and Miller Creek.
Average noise level (dBA)
Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes's 54.2 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. Montana as a whole averages 49.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 32.1% of Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes 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, 37.9% of Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Montana average of 16.9% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes
- 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 2% of Emma Dickinson Orchard Homes is under tree cover (much lighter than most neighborhoods), 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.
- Airport noise is directional. Missoula Montana's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northwest. Neighborhoods to the southeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
