Noise Levels in Grand Bayou, LA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
35 dBA
Average noise across Grand Bayou
Soft rainfall
0
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
1% of Grand Bayou residents
79 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Grand Bayou 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 0 Grand Bayou residents, or 0.7%, live above that level. By land area, 1.0% of Grand Bayou is above 55 dBA.
99.0% below 55 dBA
1.0% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Grand Bayou compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Grand Bayou
Average noise levels for Grand Bayou residents, grouped by direction from the center of Grand Bayou. Northern Grand Bayou carries the highest population-weighted average; Southern Grand Bayou carries the lowest. Just 0% of residents in Southern Grand Bayou live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in Northern Grand Bayou.
Eastern Grand Bayou
33.8 dBA · Quiet
Whisper
Northern Grand Bayou
42.5 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Southern Grand Bayou
22.6 dBA · Quiet
Whisper
Western Grand Bayou
40.9 dBA · Quiet
Soft rainfall
Northern Grand Bayou sounds about 297% louder than Southern Grand Bayou to the human ear, a 19.9 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 US-84 do you need to be?
US-84 produces an estimated 58 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
58 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
44 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
330 ft
37 dBA
Soft rainfall
660 ft
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 7% of Grand Bayou sits under tree canopy (lighter than most cities) and roughly 0% 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 Grand Bayou. 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 Grand Bayou
The bar chart below shows the share of Grand Bayou residents in each noise band. About 100% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 0% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Grand Bayou Compares
Grand Bayou sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Grand Bayou's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Evelyn, Gahagan, King Hill, and Wemple.
Average noise level (dBA)
Grand Bayou's 34.9 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Louisiana as a whole averages 50.7 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Grand Bayou because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 0.7% of Grand Bayou residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's fewer than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 1.0% of Grand Bayou's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Louisiana average of 28.9% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Grand Bayou
- 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 US-84 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 7% of Grand Bayou is under tree cover (lighter than most cities), and the dominant land cover is pasture / hay. 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.
