Noise Levels in Lincoln Park-Buffalo, Tonawanda, NY | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
51 dBA
Average noise across Lincoln Park-Buffalo
Quiet office to normal conversation
501
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
16% of Lincoln Park-Buffalo residents
64 dBA
Loudest residential point
Busy restaurant
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Lincoln Park-Buffalo 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 501 Lincoln Park-Buffalo residents, or 16.0%, live above that level. By land area, 18.3% of Lincoln Park-Buffalo is above 55 dBA.
81.7% below 55 dBA
18.3% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Lincoln Park-Buffalo compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Lincoln Park-Buffalo
Average noise levels for Lincoln Park-Buffalo residents, grouped by direction from the center of Lincoln Park-Buffalo. Southern Lincoln Park-Buffalo carries the highest population-weighted average; Central Lincoln Park-Buffalo carries the lowest. Just 6% of residents in Central Lincoln Park-Buffalo live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in Southern Lincoln Park-Buffalo.
Central Lincoln Park-Buffalo
48.9 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Eastern Lincoln Park-Buffalo
53.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Lincoln Park-Buffalo
55.4 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Lincoln Park-Buffalo
52.1 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Lincoln Park-Buffalo sounds about 57% louder than Central Lincoln Park-Buffalo to the human ear, a 6.5 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 64 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
64 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
51 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
43 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 13% of Lincoln Park-Buffalo sits under tree canopy (about average for neighborhoods) and roughly 47% 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
Buffalo Niagara International (BUF) sits southeast of Lincoln Park-Buffalo. 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 Lincoln Park-Buffalo, particularly to the northwest, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Lincoln Park-Buffalo
The bar chart below shows the share of Lincoln Park-Buffalo residents in each noise band. About 83% 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 Lincoln Park-Buffalo Compares
Lincoln Park-Buffalo sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Lincoln Park-Buffalo's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with parkside-buffalo-ny, Park Meadow, Military, and Allen.
Average noise level (dBA)
Lincoln Park-Buffalo's 51.1 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. New York as a whole averages 55.4 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Lincoln Park-Buffalo because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 16.0% of Lincoln Park-Buffalo 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, 18.3% of Lincoln Park-Buffalo's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a New York average of 30.9% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Lincoln Park-Buffalo
- 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 13% of Lincoln Park-Buffalo is under tree cover (about average for 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. Buffalo Niagara International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the southeast. Neighborhoods to the northwest of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
