Noise Levels in Franklin County, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
44 dBA
Average noise across Franklin County
Quiet suburban street at night
600
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
7% of Franklin County residents
100 dBA
Loudest residential point
Power saw
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Franklin County 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 600 Franklin County residents, or 7.1%, live above that level. By land area, 9.4% of Franklin County is above 55 dBA.
90.6% below 55 dBA
9.4% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Franklin County compares to similar-sized counties.
Noise by Part of Franklin County
Average noise levels for Franklin County residents, grouped by direction from the center of Franklin County. The highest population-weighted average is in the Mount Vernon area (northern Franklin County); the lowest is in eastern Franklin County, where just 2% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
Mount Vernon
65.0 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Northwestern Franklin County
52.8 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southwestern Franklin County
49.2 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Southeastern Franklin County
45.1 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Eastern Franklin County
44.8 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
To the human ear, noise in the Mount Vernon area (northern Franklin County) sounds about 306% louder than in eastern Franklin County, a 20.2 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 I-30 do you need to be?
I-30 produces an estimated 77 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 quiet suburban street at night.
At source
77 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
65 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
58 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
52 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
¼ mile
45 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
½ mile
38 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 32% of Franklin County sits under tree canopy (heavier than most counties) and roughly 5% 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 Franklin County. 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 Franklin County
The bar chart below shows the share of Franklin County residents in each noise band. About 93% 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 Franklin County Compares
Franklin County sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Franklin County's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Camp County, Morris County, Red River County, and Rains County.
Average noise level (dBA)
Franklin County's 44.5 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 Franklin County because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 7.1% of Franklin County 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, 9.4% of Franklin County'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 Franklin County
- 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 I-30 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 32% of Franklin County is under tree cover (heavier than most counties), and the dominant land cover is pasture / hay. 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.
