Noise Levels in Florence, NJ | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
49 dBA
Average noise across Florence
Quiet office
451
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
13% of Florence residents
80 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Florence 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 451 Florence residents, or 12.7%, live above that level. By land area, 17.2% of Florence is above 55 dBA.
82.8% below 55 dBA
17.2% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Florence compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Florence
Average noise levels for Florence residents, grouped by direction from the center of Florence. Eastern Florence carries the highest population-weighted average; Northern Florence carries the lowest. Just 16% of residents in Northern Florence live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in Eastern Florence.
Central Florence
45.7 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Eastern Florence
54.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Florence
43.0 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Western Florence
49.3 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Eastern Florence sounds about 122% louder than Northern Florence to the human ear, a 11.5 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 Burlington County 656 do you need to be?
Burlington County 656 produces an estimated 59 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
59 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
47 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
40 dBA
Soft rainfall
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 16% of Florence sits under tree canopy (lighter than most cities) and roughly 41% 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 Florence. 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
Philadelphia International (PHL) sits southwest of Florence. 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 75 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Florence, particularly to the northeast, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Florence
The bar chart below shows the share of Florence residents in each noise band. About 76% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 17% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Florence Compares
Florence sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Florence's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Roebling, Fort Dix, Wrightstown, and Hainesport.
Average noise level (dBA)
Florence's 49.2 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. New Jersey as a whole averages 49.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Florence because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 12.7% of Florence 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, 17.2% of Florence's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a New Jersey average of 25.2% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Florence
- 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 Burlington County 656 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 16% of Florence is under tree cover (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.
- Airport noise is directional. Philadelphia International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the southwest. Neighborhoods to the northeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
