Noise Levels in Hale County, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
48 dBA
Average noise across Hale County
Quiet office
3,364
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
19% of Hale County residents
90 dBA
Loudest residential point
Lawnmower at 1 m
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Hale 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 3,364 Hale County residents, or 19.0%, live above that level. By land area, 13.3% of Hale County is above 55 dBA.
86.7% below 55 dBA
13.3% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Hale County compares to similar-sized counties.
Noise by Part of Hale County
Average noise levels for Hale County residents, grouped by direction from the center of Hale County. The highest population-weighted average is in the Hale Center area (southwestern Hale County); the lowest is in southeastern Hale County, where just 2% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
Hale Center
55.6 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Plainview
54.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Hale County
49.4 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Northwestern Hale County
44.5 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Southeastern Hale County
42.9 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
To the human ear, noise in the Hale Center area (southwestern Hale County) sounds about 141% louder than in southeastern Hale County, a 12.7 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-27 do you need to be?
I-27 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
59 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
50 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
42 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 0% of Hale County sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most counties) and roughly 30% 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 Hale 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 Hale County
The bar chart below shows the share of Hale County residents in each noise band. About 81% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 4% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Hale County Compares
Hale County sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Hale County's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Hockley County, Lamb County, Swisher County, and Deaf Smith County.
Average noise level (dBA)
Hale County's 47.8 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 Hale County because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 19.0% of Hale 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, 13.3% of Hale County'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 Hale 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-27 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 0% of Hale 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.
