Noise Levels in Fairview Park, Oakland, CA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
57 dBA
Average noise across Fairview Park
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
2,542
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
65% of Fairview Park residents
82 dBA
Loudest residential point
Food blender at arm’s length
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Fairview Park 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 2,542 Fairview Park residents, or 65.3%, live above that level. By land area, 68.9% of Fairview Park is above 55 dBA.
31.1% below 55 dBA
68.9% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Fairview Park compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Fairview Park
Average noise levels for Fairview Park residents, grouped by direction from the center of Fairview Park. The highest population-weighted average is in central Fairview Park; the lowest is in western Fairview Park, where just 58% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in the loudest section.
Central Fairview Park
60.8 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northeastern Fairview Park
56.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western Fairview Park
55.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in central Fairview Park sounds about 40% louder than in western Fairview Park, a 4.9 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 Grove Shafter Fwy do you need to be?
Grove Shafter Fwy produces an estimated 63 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
63 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
49 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
42 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
660 ft
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 14% of Fairview Park sits under tree canopy (about average for neighborhoods) and roughly 58% 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 Fairview Park. 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.
Airport Noise
San Francisco Bay Oakland International (OAK) sits south of Fairview Park. 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 65 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Fairview Park, particularly to the north, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Fairview Park
The bar chart below shows the share of Fairview Park residents in each noise band. About 34% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 18% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Fairview Park Compares
Fairview Park sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Fairview Park's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Temescal, Shafter, Rockridge, and Merriwood.
Average noise level (dBA)
Fairview Park's 57.2 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. California as a whole averages 54.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Fairview Park because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 65.3% of Fairview Park 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, 68.9% of Fairview Park'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 Fairview Park
- 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 Grove Shafter Fwy 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 14% of Fairview Park is under tree cover (about average for 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. San Francisco Bay Oakland International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the south. Neighborhoods to the north of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
