Noise Levels in Hunterwood, Houston, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
54 dBA
Average noise across Hunterwood
Quiet office to normal conversation
707
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
24% of Hunterwood residents
73 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Hunterwood 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 707 Hunterwood residents, or 23.9%, live above that level. By land area, 38.7% of Hunterwood is above 55 dBA.
61.3% below 55 dBA
38.7% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Hunterwood compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Hunterwood
Average noise levels for Hunterwood residents, grouped by direction from the center of Hunterwood. The highest population-weighted average is in northeastern Hunterwood; the lowest is in southern Hunterwood, where just 9% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in the loudest section.
Northeastern Hunterwood
59.0 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northwestern Hunterwood
56.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Central Hunterwood
53.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Hunterwood
50.2 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
To the human ear, noise in northeastern Hunterwood sounds about 84% louder than in southern Hunterwood, a 8.8 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 73 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
73 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
61 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
54 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
47 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
40 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 44% of Hunterwood sits under tree canopy (much heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 24% 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
William P Hobby (HOU) sits south of Hunterwood. 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 Hunterwood, 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 Hunterwood
The bar chart below shows the share of Hunterwood residents in each noise band. About 54% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 9% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Hunterwood Compares
Hunterwood sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Hunterwood's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Kashmere Gardens, Downtown Jacinto City, South Houston Gardens, and el-dorado-oates-prairie-houston-tx.
Average noise level (dBA)
Hunterwood's 54.3 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 Hunterwood because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 23.9% of Hunterwood 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, 38.7% of Hunterwood'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 Hunterwood
- 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 44% of Hunterwood is under tree cover (much 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.
- Airport noise is directional. William P Hobby's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the south. Neighborhoods to the north of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
