Noise Levels in Gloucester, MA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
54 dBA
Average noise across Gloucester
Quiet office to normal conversation
9,973
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
38% of Gloucester residents
98 dBA
Loudest residential point
Power saw
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Gloucester 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 9,973 Gloucester residents, or 38.3%, live above that level. By land area, 38.4% of Gloucester is above 55 dBA.
61.6% below 55 dBA
38.4% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Gloucester compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Gloucester
Average noise levels for Gloucester residents, grouped by direction from the center of Gloucester. Central Gloucester carries the highest population-weighted average; Northern Gloucester carries the lowest. Just 25% of residents in Northern Gloucester live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a third of the share in Central Gloucester.
Central Gloucester
59.8 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern Gloucester
55.6 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Gloucester
51.6 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Gloucester
53.4 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Gloucester
53.6 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Central Gloucester sounds about 77% louder than Northern Gloucester to the human ear, a 8.2 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 State Rte 128 do you need to be?
State Rte 128 produces an estimated 73 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
73 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
61 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
54 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
47 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
40 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 40% of Gloucester sits under tree canopy (about average for cities) and roughly 32% 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 Gloucester. 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
General Edward Lawrence Logan International (BOS) sits southwest of Gloucester. 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 Gloucester, particularly to the northeast, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Gloucester
The bar chart below shows the share of Gloucester residents in each noise band. About 60% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 10% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Gloucester Compares
Gloucester sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Gloucester's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Danvers, Saugus, Beverly, and Melrose.
Average noise level (dBA)
Gloucester's 54.0 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Massachusetts as a whole averages 54.3 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Gloucester because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 38.3% of Gloucester 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, 38.4% of Gloucester's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Massachusetts average of 40.0% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Gloucester
- 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 State Rte 128 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 40% of Gloucester is under tree cover (about average for cities), and the dominant land cover is medium-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. General Edward Lawrence Logan International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the southwest. Neighborhoods to the northeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
