Noise Levels in Fabens, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
51 dBA
Average noise across Fabens
Quiet office
910
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
35% of Fabens residents
79 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Fabens 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 910 Fabens residents, or 35.2%, live above that level. By land area, 20.0% of Fabens is above 55 dBA.
80.0% below 55 dBA
20.0% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Fabens compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Fabens
Average noise levels for Fabens residents, grouped by direction from the center of Fabens. Southern Fabens carries the highest population-weighted average; Western Fabens carries the lowest. Just 24% of residents in Western Fabens live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in Southern Fabens.
Central Fabens
52.9 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Fabens
53.4 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Fabens
47.8 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Southern Fabens
55.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Fabens
47.7 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Southern Fabens sounds about 74% louder than Western Fabens to the human ear, a 8.0 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 79 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
79 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
65 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
57 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
49 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
40 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 0% of Fabens sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most cities) and roughly 26% 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 Fabens. 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 Fabens
The bar chart below shows the share of Fabens residents in each noise band. About 57% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 14% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Fabens Compares
Fabens sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Fabens's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Tornillo, Clint, Homestead Meadows North, and Vinton.
Average noise level (dBA)
Fabens's 50.8 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Fabens because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 35.2% of Fabens 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, 20.0% of Fabens's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Texas average of 22.8% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Fabens
- 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 0% of Fabens is under tree cover (much lighter than most cities), 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.
