Noise Levels in Iowa Colony, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
49 dBA
Average noise across Iowa Colony
Quiet office
846
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
14% of Iowa Colony residents
70 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Iowa Colony 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 846 Iowa Colony residents, or 13.9%, live above that level. By land area, 15.6% of Iowa Colony is above 55 dBA.
84.4% below 55 dBA
15.6% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Iowa Colony compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Iowa Colony
Average noise levels for Iowa Colony residents, grouped by direction from the center of Iowa Colony. The highest population-weighted average is in northern Iowa Colony; the lowest is in southwestern Iowa Colony, where just 3% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
Northern Iowa Colony
53.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northwestern Iowa Colony
49.9 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Southern Iowa Colony
47.9 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Southeastern Iowa Colony
47.9 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Southwestern Iowa Colony
47.8 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
To the human ear, noise in northern Iowa Colony sounds about 53% louder than in southwestern Iowa Colony, a 6.1 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 70 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
70 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
165 ft
58 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
50 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
43 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 6% of Iowa Colony sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most cities) and roughly 28% 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 Iowa Colony. 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.
Airport Noise
William P Hobby (HOU) sits northeast of Iowa Colony. 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 Iowa Colony, particularly to the southwest, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Iowa Colony
The bar chart below shows the share of Iowa Colony residents in each noise band. About 87% 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 Iowa Colony Compares
Iowa Colony sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Iowa Colony's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with South Houston, Piney Point Village, West University Place, and Galena Park.
Average noise level (dBA)
Iowa Colony's 48.7 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Iowa Colony because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 13.9% of Iowa Colony residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's fewer than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 15.6% of Iowa Colony'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 Iowa Colony
- 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 Iowa Colony is under tree cover (much lighter than most cities), and the dominant land cover is pasture / hay. 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 northeast. Neighborhoods to the southwest of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
