Noise Levels in Goose Creek, Baytown, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
55 dBA
Average noise across Goose Creek
Quiet office to normal conversation
648
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
57% of Goose Creek residents
66 dBA
Loudest residential point
Busy restaurant
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Goose Creek 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 648 Goose Creek residents, or 57.4%, live above that level. By land area, 54.7% of Goose Creek is above 55 dBA.
45.3% below 55 dBA
54.7% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Goose Creek compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Goose Creek
Average noise levels for Goose Creek residents, grouped by direction from the center of Goose Creek. The highest population-weighted average is in southeastern Goose Creek; the lowest is in northeastern Goose Creek, where just 33% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in the loudest section.
Southeastern Goose Creek
58.1 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northern Goose Creek
56.4 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern Goose Creek
55.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Goose Creek
55.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northeastern Goose Creek
55.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in southeastern Goose Creek sounds about 22% louder than in northeastern Goose Creek, a 2.9 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 66 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
66 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
54 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
330 ft
47 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
40 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 19% of Goose Creek sits under tree canopy (about average for neighborhoods) and roughly 45% 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 Goose Creek. 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
George Bush Intcntl/Houston (IAH) sits northwest of Goose Creek. 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 Goose Creek, particularly to the southeast, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Goose Creek
The bar chart below shows the share of Goose Creek residents in each noise band. About 42% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 13% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Goose Creek Compares
Goose Creek sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Goose Creek's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with ward-acres-pasadena-tx, meadow-bend-league-city-tx, alta-vista-acres-pasadena-tx, and south-shore-harbour-league-city-tx.
Average noise level (dBA)
Goose Creek's 55.1 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Goose Creek because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 57.4% of Goose Creek 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, 54.7% of Goose Creek'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 Goose Creek
- 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 19% of Goose Creek 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. George Bush Intcntl/Houston's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northwest. Neighborhoods to the southeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
