Noise Levels in Garrison Park, Austin, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
53 dBA
Average noise across Garrison Park
Quiet office to normal conversation
3,610
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
34% of Garrison Park residents
79 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Garrison Park 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 3,610 Garrison Park residents, or 34.4%, live above that level. By land area, 33.8% of Garrison Park is above 55 dBA.
66.2% below 55 dBA
33.8% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Garrison Park compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Garrison Park
Average noise levels for Garrison Park residents, grouped by direction from the center of Garrison Park. The highest population-weighted average is in southern Garrison Park; the lowest is in northwestern Garrison Park, where just 32% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in the loudest section.
Southern Garrison Park
65.2 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Central Garrison Park
57.6 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southwestern Garrison Park
54.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Garrison Park
53.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northwestern Garrison Park
53.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in southern Garrison Park sounds about 133% louder than in northwestern Garrison Park, a 12.2 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 do you need to be?
produces an estimated 79 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
79 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
66 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
58 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
50 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
42 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 17% of Garrison Park sits under tree canopy (about average for neighborhoods) and roughly 50% 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 Garrison Park. 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
Austin-Bergstrom International (AUS) sits east of Garrison Park. 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 Garrison Park, particularly to the west, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Garrison Park
The bar chart below shows the share of Garrison Park residents in each noise band. About 65% 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 Garrison Park Compares
Garrison Park sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Garrison Park's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with East Oak Hill, Riverside, Franklin Park, and Montopolis.
Average noise level (dBA)
Garrison Park's 52.7 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 Garrison Park because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 34.4% of Garrison Park 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, 33.8% of Garrison Park'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 Garrison Park
- 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 17% of Garrison Park is under tree cover (about average for 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. Austin-Bergstrom International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the east. Neighborhoods to the west of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
