Noise Levels in Los Jardines, San Antonio, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
49 dBA
Average noise across Los Jardines
Quiet office
867
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
18% of Los Jardines residents
75 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Los Jardines 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 867 Los Jardines residents, or 18.4%, live above that level. By land area, 29.4% of Los Jardines is above 55 dBA.
70.6% below 55 dBA
29.4% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Los Jardines compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Los Jardines
Average noise levels for Los Jardines residents, grouped by direction from the center of Los Jardines. The highest population-weighted average is in western Los Jardines; the lowest is in southern Los Jardines, where just 4% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
Western Los Jardines
59.0 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northwestern Los Jardines
52.3 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Los Jardines
51.9 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Central Los Jardines
51.1 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Los Jardines
48.8 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
To the human ear, noise in western Los Jardines sounds about 103% louder than in southern Los Jardines, a 10.2 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 State Hwy 151 do you need to be?
State Hwy 151 produces an estimated 75 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
75 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
61 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
53 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
45 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
36 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 3% of Los Jardines sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 30% 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
San Antonio International (SAT) sits northeast of Los Jardines. 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 50 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Los Jardines, particularly to the southwest, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Los Jardines
The bar chart below shows the share of Los Jardines residents in each noise band. About 88% 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 Los Jardines Compares
Los Jardines sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Los Jardines's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Palm Heights, Greater Gardendale, Thompson Community, and Springvale.
Average noise level (dBA)
Los Jardines's 49.0 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Los Jardines because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 18.4% of Los Jardines 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, 29.4% of Los Jardines'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 Los Jardines
- 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 State Hwy 151 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 3% of Los Jardines is under tree cover (much lighter 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. San Antonio International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northeast. Neighborhoods to the southwest of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
