Noise Levels in Heritage, San Antonio, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
53 dBA
Average noise across Heritage
Quiet office to normal conversation
2,758
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
25% of Heritage residents
66 dBA
Loudest residential point
Busy restaurant
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Heritage 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 2,758 Heritage residents, or 24.9%, live above that level. By land area, 26.6% of Heritage is above 55 dBA.
73.4% below 55 dBA
26.6% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Heritage compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Heritage
Average noise levels for Heritage residents, grouped by direction from the center of Heritage. The highest population-weighted average is in southern Heritage; the lowest is in western Heritage, where just 15% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a third of the share in the loudest section.
Southern Heritage
59.0 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northern Heritage
54.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southeastern Heritage
53.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southwestern Heritage
52.0 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Heritage
51.2 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in southern Heritage sounds about 72% louder than in western Heritage, a 7.8 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 66 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
66 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
52 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
330 ft
44 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 11% of Heritage sits under tree canopy (lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 51% 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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Airport Noise
San Antonio International (SAT) sits northeast of Heritage. 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 65 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Heritage, 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 Heritage
The bar chart below shows the share of Heritage residents in each noise band. About 79% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 12% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Heritage Compares
Heritage sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Heritage's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Great Northwest, South Southwest, Villages of Westcreek, and Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road.
Average noise level (dBA)
Heritage's 52.8 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Heritage because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 24.9% of Heritage 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, 26.6% of Heritage'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 Heritage
- 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 11% of Heritage is under tree cover (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. San Antonio International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northeast. Neighborhoods to the southwest of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
