Noise Levels in Kashmere Gardens, Houston, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
56 dBA
Average noise across Kashmere Gardens
Quiet office to normal conversation
2,045
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
61% of Kashmere Gardens residents
75 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Kashmere Gardens 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 2,045 Kashmere Gardens residents, or 61.1%, live above that level. By land area, 68.9% of Kashmere Gardens is above 55 dBA.
31.1% below 55 dBA
68.9% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Kashmere Gardens compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Kashmere Gardens
Average noise levels for Kashmere Gardens residents, grouped by direction from the center of Kashmere Gardens. The highest population-weighted average is in northwestern Kashmere Gardens; the lowest is in southeastern Kashmere Gardens, where just 54% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in the loudest section.
Northwestern Kashmere Gardens
67.2 dBA · Loud
Highway traffic 50 ft away
Western Kashmere Gardens
64.6 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Central Kashmere Gardens
58.6 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern Kashmere Gardens
57.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southeastern Kashmere Gardens
56.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
To the human ear, noise in northwestern Kashmere Gardens sounds about 116% louder than in southeastern Kashmere Gardens, a 11.1 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 I-610 do you need to be?
I-610 produces an estimated 79 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 quiet suburban street at night.
At source
79 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
65 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
58 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
50 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
42 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 20% of Kashmere Gardens sits under tree canopy (heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 32% 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 Kashmere Gardens. 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 south of Kashmere Gardens. 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 Kashmere Gardens, 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 Kashmere Gardens
The bar chart below shows the share of Kashmere Gardens residents in each noise band. About 26% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 4% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Kashmere Gardens Compares
Kashmere Gardens sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Kashmere Gardens's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Northside Northline, Downtown Jacinto City, Midtown, and Hunterwood.
Average noise level (dBA)
Kashmere Gardens's 55.8 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Kashmere Gardens because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 61.1% of Kashmere Gardens 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, 68.9% of Kashmere Gardens'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 Kashmere Gardens
- 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 I-610 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 20% of Kashmere Gardens 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.
- 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.