Noise Levels in Huron, KS | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
56 dBA
Average noise across Huron
Quiet office to normal conversation
37
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
33% of Huron residents
85 dBA
Loudest residential point
Food blender at arm’s length
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Huron 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 37 Huron residents, or 32.9%, live above that level. By land area, 42.3% of Huron is above 55 dBA.
57.7% below 55 dBA
42.3% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Huron compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Huron
Average noise levels for Huron residents, grouped by direction from the center of Huron. Central Huron carries the highest population-weighted average; Western Huron carries the lowest. Just 0% of residents in Western Huron live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in Central Huron.
Central Huron
58.2 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northern Huron
56.6 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southern Huron
54.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Huron
37.6 dBA · Quiet
Soft rainfall
Central Huron sounds about 317% louder than Western Huron to the human ear, a 20.6 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 Greeley Rd do you need to be?
Greeley Rd produces an estimated 55 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
55 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
165 ft
42 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
330 ft
35 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 2% of Huron sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most cities) and roughly 20% 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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Rail Noise
Active freight rail runs through parts of Huron. For most blocks the rail-only contribution is small. Combined road-plus-rail noise rarely exceeds road noise on its own. The exceptions are the handful of blocks within roughly a quarter mile of the right-of-way during pass-through hours.
Use the Rail toggle on the map above to isolate rail's contribution from road and aviation.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Huron
The bar chart below shows the share of Huron residents in each noise band. About 46% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 24% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Huron Compares
Huron sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how Huron's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Kennekuk, Purcell, Monrovia, and Severance.
Average noise level (dBA)
Huron's 55.5 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. Kansas as a whole averages 51.2 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Huron because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 32.9% of Huron residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's more than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 42.3% of Huron's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Kansas average of 19.4% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Huron
- 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 Greeley Rd 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 2% of Huron is under tree cover (much lighter than most cities), 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.
