Noise Levels in Lannon, WI | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
50 dBA
Average noise across Lannon
Quiet office
287
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
21% of Lannon residents
72 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Lannon 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 287 Lannon residents, or 20.7%, live above that level. By land area, 23.8% of Lannon is above 55 dBA.
76.2% below 55 dBA
23.8% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Lannon compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Lannon
Average noise levels for Lannon residents, grouped by direction from the center of Lannon. The highest population-weighted average is in northwestern Lannon; the lowest is in southeastern Lannon, where just 12% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in the loudest section.
Northwestern Lannon
55.4 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southwestern Lannon
53.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Lannon
52.4 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southeastern Lannon
52.3 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in northwestern Lannon sounds about 24% louder than in southeastern Lannon, a 3.1 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 Cth W do you need to be?
Cth W produces an estimated 63 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
63 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
50 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
42 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
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 32% of Lannon sits under tree canopy (about average for cities) and roughly 22% 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 Lannon. 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 Lannon
The bar chart below shows the share of Lannon residents in each noise band. About 71% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 3% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Lannon Compares
Lannon sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Lannon's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Butler, Chenequa, Oconomowoc Lake, and Rubicon.
Average noise level (dBA)
Lannon's 49.5 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Wisconsin as a whole averages 53.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Lannon because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 20.7% of Lannon 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, 23.8% of Lannon's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Wisconsin average of 29.6% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Lannon
- 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 Cth W 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 32% of Lannon is under tree cover (about average for 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.
