Noise Levels in Heller Park, Tulsa, OK | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
54 dBA
Average noise across Heller Park
Quiet office to normal conversation
2,584
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
46% of Heller Park residents
63 dBA
Loudest residential point
Busy restaurant
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Heller Park 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 2,584 Heller Park residents, or 46.5%, live above that level. By land area, 44.4% of Heller Park is above 55 dBA.
55.6% below 55 dBA
44.4% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Heller Park compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Heller Park
Average noise levels for Heller Park residents, grouped by direction from the center of Heller Park. The highest population-weighted average is in northeastern Heller Park; the lowest is in southeastern Heller Park, where just 26% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in the loudest section.
Northeastern Heller Park
59.0 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northwestern Heller Park
57.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southern Heller Park
53.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southwestern Heller Park
53.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southeastern Heller Park
53.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in northeastern Heller Park sounds about 51% louder than in southeastern Heller Park, a 5.9 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 63 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
63 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
49 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
41 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
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 12% of Heller Park sits under tree canopy (about average for neighborhoods) and roughly 50% 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.
-->
Airport Noise
Tulsa International (TUL) sits northeast of Heller Park. 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 45 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Heller Park, particularly to the southwest, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Heller Park
The bar chart below shows the share of Heller Park residents in each noise band. About 54% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 1% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Heller Park Compares
Heller Park sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Heller Park's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Brookside, South Peoria, Kensington, and Downtown Tulsa.
Average noise level (dBA)
Heller Park's 53.9 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Oklahoma as a whole averages 50.5 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Heller Park because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 46.5% of Heller Park 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, 44.4% of Heller Park's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Oklahoma average of 22.7% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Heller Park
- 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 12% of Heller Park 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. Tulsa International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northeast. Neighborhoods to the southwest of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
