Noise Levels in Historic Mitchell Street, Milwaukee, WI | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
56 dBA
Average noise across Historic Mitchell Street
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
4,515
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
54% of Historic Mitchell Street residents
67 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Historic Mitchell Street 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 4,515 Historic Mitchell Street residents, or 53.9%, live above that level. By land area, 60.5% of Historic Mitchell Street is above 55 dBA.
39.5% below 55 dBA
60.5% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Historic Mitchell Street compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Historic Mitchell Street
Average noise levels for Historic Mitchell Street residents, grouped by direction from the center of Historic Mitchell Street. The highest population-weighted average is in northeastern Historic Mitchell Street; the lowest is in northern Historic Mitchell Street, where just 0% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
Northeastern Historic Mitchell Street
66.1 dBA · Loud
Highway traffic 50 ft away
Eastern Historic Mitchell Street
62.7 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Central Historic Mitchell Street
56.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northwestern Historic Mitchell Street
51.3 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Historic Mitchell Street
49.9 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
To the human ear, noise in northeastern Historic Mitchell Street sounds about 207% louder than in northern Historic Mitchell Street, a 16.2 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 67 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
67 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
165 ft
53 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
330 ft
44 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
660 ft
36 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 6% of Historic Mitchell Street sits under tree canopy (lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 73% 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
General Mitchell International (MKE) sits south of Historic Mitchell Street. 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 Historic Mitchell Street, particularly to the north, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Historic Mitchell Street
The bar chart below shows the share of Historic Mitchell Street residents in each noise band. About 34% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 25% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Historic Mitchell Street Compares
Historic Mitchell Street sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Historic Mitchell Street's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Lincoln Village, Avenues West, Morgandale, and Muskego Way.
Average noise level (dBA)
Historic Mitchell Street's 56.2 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Wisconsin as a whole averages 53.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Historic Mitchell Street because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 53.9% of Historic Mitchell Street 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, 60.5% of Historic Mitchell Street's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Wisconsin average of 29.6% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Historic Mitchell Street
- 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 6% of Historic Mitchell Street 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. General Mitchell International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the south. Neighborhoods to the north of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
