Noise Levels in Glenn County, CA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
49 dBA
Average noise across Glenn County
Quiet office
4,659
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
20% of Glenn County residents
84 dBA
Loudest residential point
Food blender at arm’s length
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Glenn 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 4,659 Glenn County residents, or 19.8%, live above that level. By land area, 13.5% of Glenn County is above 55 dBA.
86.5% below 55 dBA
13.5% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Glenn County compares to similar-sized counties.
Noise by Part of Glenn County
Average noise levels for Glenn County residents, grouped by direction from the center of Glenn County. The highest population-weighted average is in the Orland area (northern Glenn County); the lowest is in western Glenn County, where just 0% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
Orland
54.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Willows
54.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southwestern Glenn County
46.7 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Eastern Glenn County
42.5 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Western Glenn County
42.3 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
To the human ear, noise in the Orland area (northern Glenn County) sounds about 130% louder than in western Glenn County, a 12.0 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-5 do you need to be?
I-5 produces an estimated 76 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
76 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
62 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
54 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
46 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
37 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 4% of Glenn County sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most counties) and roughly 28% 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 Glenn 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 Glenn County
The bar chart below shows the share of Glenn County residents in each noise band. About 80% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 7% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Glenn County Compares
Glenn County sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Glenn County's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Colusa County, Tehama County, Lake County, and Plumas County.
Average noise level (dBA)
Glenn County's 48.7 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. California as a whole averages 54.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Glenn County because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 19.8% of Glenn 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, 13.5% of Glenn County's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a California average of 36.0% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Glenn 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-5 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 4% of Glenn County is under tree cover (much lighter than most counties), 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.
