Noise Levels in Historic West-Side, Springfield, IL | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
54 dBA
Average noise across Historic West-Side
Quiet office to normal conversation
1,565
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
46% of Historic West-Side residents
65 dBA
Loudest residential point
Busy restaurant
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Historic West-Side 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 1,565 Historic West-Side residents, or 46.5%, live above that level. By land area, 49.8% of Historic West-Side is above 55 dBA.
50.2% below 55 dBA
49.8% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Historic West-Side compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Historic West-Side
Average noise levels for Historic West-Side residents, grouped by direction from the center of Historic West-Side. The highest population-weighted average is in northeastern Historic West-Side; the lowest is in central Historic West-Side, where just 55% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in the loudest section.
Northeastern Historic West-Side
57.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northwestern Historic West-Side
56.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southeastern Historic West-Side
56.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Historic West-Side
56.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Central Historic West-Side
55.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in northeastern Historic West-Side sounds about 12% louder than in central Historic West-Side, a 1.6 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 Washington Park do you need to be?
Washington Park produces an estimated 60 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
60 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
45 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
330 ft
36 dBA
Soft rainfall
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 27% of Historic West-Side sits under tree canopy (heavier 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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How Noise Is Distributed Across Historic West-Side
The bar chart below shows the share of Historic West-Side residents in each noise band. About 51% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 2% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Historic West-Side Compares
Historic West-Side sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Historic West-Side's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with harvard-park-springfield-il, Springfield Lake Shore Improvement, old-aristocracy-hill-springfield-il, and downtown-springfield-springfield-il.
Average noise level (dBA)
Historic West-Side's 54.1 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Illinois as a whole averages 52.6 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Historic West-Side because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 46.5% of Historic West-Side 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, 49.8% of Historic West-Side's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Illinois average of 29.2% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Historic West-Side
- 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 Washington Park 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 27% of Historic West-Side is under tree cover (heavier than most 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.
