Noise Levels in Epes, Newport News, VA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
54 dBA
Average noise across Epes
Quiet office to normal conversation
1,704
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
35% of Epes residents
71 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Epes 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 1,704 Epes residents, or 34.9%, live above that level. By land area, 49.5% of Epes is above 55 dBA.
50.5% below 55 dBA
49.5% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Epes compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Epes
Average noise levels for Epes residents, grouped by direction from the center of Epes. The highest population-weighted average is in central Epes; the lowest is in northeastern Epes, where just 15% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in the loudest section.
Central Epes
56.6 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western Epes
56.6 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southwestern Epes
54.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Epes
51.6 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northeastern Epes
51.6 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in central Epes sounds about 41% louder than in northeastern Epes, a 5.0 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 71 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
71 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
59 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
52 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
44 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
37 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 40% of Epes sits under tree canopy (much heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 40% 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 Epes. 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 Epes
The bar chart below shows the share of Epes residents in each noise band. About 51% 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 Epes Compares
Epes sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Epes's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Jenkins, Denbigh, McIntosh, and Greenwood.
Average noise level (dBA)
Epes's 53.7 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Virginia as a whole averages 52.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Epes because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 34.9% of Epes residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's fewer than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 49.5% of Epes's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Virginia average of 30.0% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Epes
- 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 40% of Epes is under tree cover (much heavier 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.
