Noise Levels in Havre de Grace, MD | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
52 dBA
Average noise across Havre de Grace
Quiet office to normal conversation
4,710
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
29% of Havre de Grace residents
83 dBA
Loudest residential point
Food blender at arm’s length
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Havre de Grace 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 4,710 Havre de Grace residents, or 28.8%, live above that level. By land area, 45.0% of Havre de Grace is above 55 dBA.
55.0% below 55 dBA
45.0% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Havre de Grace compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Havre de Grace
Average noise levels for Havre de Grace residents, grouped by direction from the center of Havre de Grace. Eastern Havre de Grace carries the highest population-weighted average; Western Havre de Grace carries the lowest. Just 8% of residents in Western Havre de Grace live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in Eastern Havre de Grace.
Central Havre de Grace
52.1 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Havre de Grace
55.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Havre de Grace
51.2 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Havre de Grace
52.3 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Havre de Grace
47.6 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Eastern Havre de Grace sounds about 67% louder than Western Havre de Grace to the human ear, a 7.4 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-95 do you need to be?
I-95 produces an estimated 77 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
77 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
64 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
56 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
48 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
41 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 34% of Havre de Grace sits under tree canopy (about average for cities) and roughly 29% 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 Havre de Grace. 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 Havre de Grace
The bar chart below shows the share of Havre de Grace residents in each noise band. About 70% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 8% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Havre de Grace Compares
Havre de Grace sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Havre de Grace's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Aberdeen, Bel Air, North East, and Edgewood.
Average noise level (dBA)
Havre de Grace's 52.2 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Maryland as a whole averages 52.3 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Havre de Grace because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 28.8% of Havre de Grace 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, 45.0% of Havre de Grace's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Maryland average of 32.9% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Havre de Grace
- 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-95 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 34% of Havre de Grace is under tree cover (about average for cities), 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.
