Noise Levels in Lake Road, Milwaukie, OR | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
54 dBA
Average noise across Lake Road
Quiet office to normal conversation
1,390
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
44% of Lake Road residents
76 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Lake Road 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 1,390 Lake Road residents, or 43.5%, live above that level. By land area, 46.0% of Lake Road is above 55 dBA.
54.0% below 55 dBA
46.0% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Lake Road compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Lake Road
Average noise levels for Lake Road residents, grouped by direction from the center of Lake Road. Northern Lake Road carries the highest population-weighted average; Southern Lake Road carries the lowest. Just 32% of residents in Southern Lake Road live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in Northern Lake Road.
Central Lake Road
54.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Lake Road
53.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Lake Road
55.6 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Lake Road
51.7 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Lake Road
51.8 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Lake Road sounds about 31% louder than Southern Lake Road to the human ear, a 3.9 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 Oregon Route 224 do you need to be?
Oregon Route 224 produces an estimated 72 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
72 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
58 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
50 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
41 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 29% of Lake Road sits under tree canopy (heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 48% 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
Portland International (PDX) sits north of Lake Road. 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 Lake Road, particularly to the south, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Lake Road
The bar chart below shows the share of Lake Road residents in each noise band. About 62% 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 Lake Road Compares
Lake Road sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how Lake Road's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Errol Heights, Reed, West Mt. Scott, and Ardenwald.
Average noise level (dBA)
Lake Road's 53.6 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. Oregon as a whole averages 52.9 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Lake Road because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 43.5% of Lake Road 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, 46.0% of Lake Road's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Oregon average of 24.2% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Lake Road
- 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 Oregon Route 224 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 29% of Lake Road is under tree cover (heavier than most neighborhoods), and the dominant land cover is medium-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. Portland International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the north. Neighborhoods to the south of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
