Noise Levels in Frederickson, Tacoma, WA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
50 dBA
Average noise across Frederickson
Quiet office
856
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
14% of Frederickson residents
70 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Frederickson 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 856 Frederickson residents, or 14.3%, live above that level. By land area, 17.7% of Frederickson is above 55 dBA.
82.3% below 55 dBA
17.7% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Frederickson compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Frederickson
Average noise levels for Frederickson residents, grouped by direction from the center of Frederickson. The highest population-weighted average is in northwestern Frederickson; the lowest is in southeastern Frederickson, where just 8% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in the loudest section.
Northwestern Frederickson
55.4 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Frederickson
51.2 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Frederickson
50.0 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
Southern Frederickson
48.2 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Southeastern Frederickson
47.6 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
To the human ear, noise in northwestern Frederickson sounds about 72% louder than in southeastern Frederickson, a 7.8 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 Canyon Rd E (prop) do you need to be?
Canyon Rd E (prop) produces an estimated 68 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
68 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
165 ft
55 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
330 ft
47 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
39 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 30% of Frederickson sits under tree canopy (heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 29% 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 Frederickson. 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
Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA) sits north of Frederickson. 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 Frederickson, particularly to the south, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Frederickson
The bar chart below shows the share of Frederickson residents in each noise band. About 88% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 1% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Frederickson Compares
Frederickson sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Frederickson's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Summit, Waller, Elk Plain, and Downtown.
Average noise level (dBA)
Frederickson's 49.8 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Washington as a whole averages 51.3 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Frederickson because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 14.3% of Frederickson 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, 17.7% of Frederickson's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Washington average of 27.7% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Frederickson
- 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 Canyon Rd E (prop) 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 30% of Frederickson is under tree cover (heavier than most neighborhoods), 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. Seattle-Tacoma International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the north. Neighborhoods to the south of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
