Noise Levels in Heart of Missoula, Missoula, MT | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
58 dBA
Average noise across Heart of Missoula
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
1,942
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
60% of Heart of Missoula residents
83 dBA
Loudest residential point
Food blender at arm’s length
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Heart of Missoula 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 1,942 Heart of Missoula residents, or 59.9%, live above that level. By land area, 72.7% of Heart of Missoula is above 55 dBA.
27.3% below 55 dBA
72.7% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Heart of Missoula compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Heart of Missoula
Average noise levels for Heart of Missoula residents, grouped by direction from the center of Heart of Missoula. Eastern Heart of Missoula carries the highest population-weighted average; Central Heart of Missoula carries the lowest. Just 54% of residents in Central Heart of Missoula live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in Eastern Heart of Missoula.
Central Heart of Missoula
56.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern Heart of Missoula
61.5 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Northern Heart of Missoula
60.7 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southern Heart of Missoula
59.2 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western Heart of Missoula
56.4 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern Heart of Missoula sounds about 44% louder than Central Heart of Missoula to the human ear, a 5.3 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 Hwy 200 do you need to be?
State Hwy 200 produces an estimated 75 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
75 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
61 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
53 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
45 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
37 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 3% of Heart of Missoula sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 64% 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 Heart of Missoula. 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
Missoula Montana (MSO) sits northwest of Heart of Missoula. The U.S. Department of Transportation models aviation noise around this airport from federal traffic data, 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 55 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Heart of Missoula, 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 Heart of Missoula
The bar chart below shows the share of Heart of Missoula residents in each noise band. About 37% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 28% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Heart of Missoula Compares
Heart of Missoula sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Heart of Missoula's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Upper Rattlesnake, Lewis and Clark, Northside, and South 39th Street.
Average noise level (dBA)
Heart of Missoula's 57.7 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. Montana as a whole averages 49.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Heart of Missoula because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 59.9% of Heart of Missoula 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, 72.7% of Heart of Missoula's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Montana average of 16.9% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Heart of Missoula
- 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 Hwy 200 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 3% of Heart of Missoula is under tree cover (much lighter than most neighborhoods), 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. Missoula Montana's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northwest. Neighborhoods to the southeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
