Noise Levels in Highland Farms, Baytown, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
50 dBA
Average noise across Highland Farms
Quiet office
297
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
16% of Highland Farms residents
67 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Highland Farms 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 297 Highland Farms residents, or 15.7%, live above that level. By land area, 25.4% of Highland Farms is above 55 dBA.
74.6% below 55 dBA
25.4% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Highland Farms compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Highland Farms
Average noise levels for Highland Farms residents, grouped by direction from the center of Highland Farms. Northern Highland Farms carries the highest population-weighted average; Southern Highland Farms carries the lowest. Just 6% of residents in Southern Highland Farms live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in Northern Highland Farms.
Central Highland Farms
50.8 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
Eastern Highland Farms
51.1 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Highland Farms
63.7 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Southern Highland Farms
44.4 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Western Highland Farms
55.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Highland Farms sounds about 281% louder than Southern Highland Farms to the human ear, a 19.3 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 East Fwy do you need to be?
East Fwy 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
62 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
53 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
45 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
36 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 8% of Highland Farms sits under tree canopy (lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 37% 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
George Bush Intcntl/Houston (IAH) sits northwest of Highland Farms. The U.S. Department of Transportation measures aviation noise around this airport directly, 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 75 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Highland Farms, 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 Highland Farms
The bar chart below shows the share of Highland Farms residents in each noise band. About 84% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 3% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Highland Farms Compares
Highland Farms sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Highland Farms's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Downtown La Porte, fairmont-park-la-porte-tx, el-dorado-oates-prairie-houston-tx, and Spencer View Terrace.
Average noise level (dBA)
Highland Farms's 49.9 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 Highland Farms because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 15.7% of Highland Farms 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, 25.4% of Highland Farms'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 Highland Farms
- 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 East Fwy 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 8% of Highland Farms 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. George Bush Intcntl/Houston's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northwest. Neighborhoods to the southeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
