Noise Levels in Far Northeast-Houston, Houston, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
53 dBA
Average noise across Far Northeast-Houston
Quiet office to normal conversation
3,623
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
24% of Far Northeast-Houston residents
79 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Far Northeast-Houston 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 3,623 Far Northeast-Houston residents, or 23.6%, live above that level. By land area, 48.6% of Far Northeast-Houston is above 55 dBA.
51.4% below 55 dBA
48.6% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Far Northeast-Houston compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Far Northeast-Houston
Average noise levels for Far Northeast-Houston residents, grouped by direction from the center of Far Northeast-Houston. The highest population-weighted average is in western Far Northeast-Houston; the lowest is in northern Far Northeast-Houston, where just 6% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
Western Far Northeast-Houston
61.6 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Southern Far Northeast-Houston
55.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Far Northeast-Houston
49.7 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Southeastern Far Northeast-Houston
48.1 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Northern Far Northeast-Houston
46.1 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
To the human ear, noise in western Far Northeast-Houston sounds about 193% louder than in northern Far Northeast-Houston, a 15.5 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 Beltway 8 do you need to be?
Beltway 8 produces an estimated 78 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
78 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
64 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
56 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
48 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
40 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 11% of Far Northeast-Houston sits under tree canopy (lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 54% 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.
-->
Rail Noise
Active freight rail runs through parts of Far Northeast-Houston. 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
George Bush Intcntl/Houston (IAH) sits west of Far Northeast-Houston. The U.S. Department of Transportation measures aviation noise around this airport directly, 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 Far Northeast-Houston, particularly to the east, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Far Northeast-Houston
The bar chart below shows the share of Far Northeast-Houston residents in each noise band. About 76% 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 Far Northeast-Houston Compares
Far Northeast-Houston sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Far Northeast-Houston's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Northshore, Greater Inwood, Airline, and East Little York-Homestead.
Average noise level (dBA)
Far Northeast-Houston's 52.8 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 Far Northeast-Houston because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 23.6% of Far Northeast-Houston 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, 48.6% of Far Northeast-Houston'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 Far Northeast-Houston
- 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 Beltway 8 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 11% of Far Northeast-Houston is under tree cover (lighter than most 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. George Bush Intcntl/Houston's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the west. Neighborhoods to the east of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
