Noise Levels in Lavon, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
51 dBA
Average noise across Lavon
Quiet office
931
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
22% of Lavon residents
73 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Lavon 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 931 Lavon residents, or 22.4%, live above that level. By land area, 22.8% of Lavon is above 55 dBA.
77.2% below 55 dBA
22.8% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Lavon compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Lavon
Average noise levels for Lavon residents, grouped by direction from the center of Lavon. The highest population-weighted average is in northern Lavon; the lowest is in southeastern Lavon, where just 3% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in the loudest section.
Northern Lavon
52.1 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northwestern Lavon
52.1 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Lavon
47.9 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Eastern Lavon
46.9 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Southeastern Lavon
45.0 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
To the human ear, noise in northern Lavon sounds about 64% louder than in southeastern Lavon, a 7.1 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 73 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
73 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
59 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
51 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
42 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 5% of Lavon sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most cities) and roughly 33% 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.
-->
Rail Noise
Active freight rail runs through parts of Lavon. 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 Lavon
The bar chart below shows the share of Lavon residents in each noise band. About 68% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 0% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Lavon Compares
Lavon sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how Lavon's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Nevada, Josephine, Farmersville, and McLendon-Chisholm.
Average noise level (dBA)
Lavon's 50.9 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Lavon because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 22.4% of Lavon 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, 22.8% of Lavon'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 Lavon
- 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 5% of Lavon is under tree cover (much lighter than most cities), 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.
