Noise Levels in Four Way, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
36 dBA
Average noise across Four Way
Soft rainfall
0
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
0% of Four Way residents
58 dBA
Loudest residential point
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Four Way 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 0 Four Way residents, or 0.2%, live above that level. By land area, 0.1% of Four Way is above 55 dBA.
99.9% below 55 dBA
0.1% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Four Way compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Four Way
Average noise levels for Four Way residents, grouped by direction from the center of Four Way. Northern Four Way carries the highest population-weighted average; Eastern Four Way carries the lowest. Just 0% of residents in Eastern Four Way live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fraction of the share in Northern Four Way.
Eastern Four Way
32.2 dBA · Quiet
Whisper
Northern Four Way
45.1 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Southern Four Way
38.1 dBA · Quiet
Soft rainfall
Western Four Way
37.8 dBA · Quiet
Soft rainfall
Northern Four Way sounds about 145% louder than Eastern Four Way to the human ear, a 12.9 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 do you need to be?
produces an estimated 58 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
58 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
45 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
330 ft
38 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 0% of Four Way sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most cities) and roughly 0% 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 Four Way. 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 Four Way
The bar chart below shows the share of Four Way residents in each noise band. About 100% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 0% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Four Way Compares
Four Way sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Four Way's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Masterson, Channing, Dial, and Boys Ranch.
Average noise level (dBA)
Four Way's 36.1 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Four Way because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 0.2% of Four Way 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, 0.1% of Four Way'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 Four Way
- 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 Four Way is under tree cover (much lighter than most cities), and the dominant land cover is grassland. 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.
