Noise Levels in Fourth Ward, Houston, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
55 dBA
Average noise across Fourth Ward
Quiet office to normal conversation
655
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
24% of Fourth Ward residents
70 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Fourth Ward 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 655 Fourth Ward residents, or 24.2%, live above that level. By land area, 34.4% of Fourth Ward is above 55 dBA.
65.6% below 55 dBA
34.4% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Fourth Ward compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Fourth Ward
Average noise levels for Fourth Ward residents, grouped by direction from the center of Fourth Ward. The highest population-weighted average is in eastern Fourth Ward; the lowest is in western Fourth Ward, where just 50% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in the loudest section.
Eastern Fourth Ward
63.8 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Southeastern Fourth Ward
61.8 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Central Fourth Ward
58.1 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southwestern Fourth Ward
55.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Fourth Ward
54.4 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in eastern Fourth Ward sounds about 92% louder than in western Fourth Ward, a 9.4 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 Gulf Fwy do you need to be?
Gulf Fwy 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
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
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 6% of Fourth Ward sits under tree canopy (lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 66% 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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Airport Noise
William P Hobby (HOU) sits southeast of Fourth Ward. 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 Fourth Ward, particularly to the northwest, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Fourth Ward
The bar chart below shows the share of Fourth Ward residents in each noise band. About 65% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 28% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Fourth Ward Compares
Fourth Ward sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Fourth Ward's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Willow Meadows-Willowbend Area, Kashmere Gardens, Midtown, and Fondren Gardens.
Average noise level (dBA)
Fourth Ward's 54.7 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Fourth Ward because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 24.2% of Fourth Ward 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, 34.4% of Fourth Ward'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 Fourth Ward
- 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 Gulf 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 6% of Fourth Ward is under tree cover (lighter than most neighborhoods), and the dominant land cover is high-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. William P Hobby's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the southeast. Neighborhoods to the northwest of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
