Noise Levels in Los Neitos, West Whittier-Los Nietos, CA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
58 dBA
Average noise across Los Neitos
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
10,395
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
62% of Los Neitos residents
89 dBA
Loudest residential point
Lawnmower at 1 m
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Los Neitos 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 10,395 Los Neitos residents, or 62.0%, live above that level. By land area, 62.0% of Los Neitos is above 55 dBA.
38.0% below 55 dBA
62.0% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Los Neitos compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Los Neitos
Average noise levels for Los Neitos residents, grouped by direction from the center of Los Neitos. Western Los Neitos carries the highest population-weighted average; Central Los Neitos carries the lowest. Just 41% of residents in Central Los Neitos live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in Western Los Neitos.
Central Los Neitos
55.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Los Neitos
56.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northern Los Neitos
57.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southern Los Neitos
55.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Los Neitos
61.5 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Western Los Neitos sounds about 54% louder than Central Los Neitos to the human ear, a 6.2 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 San Gabriel River Fwy do you need to be?
San Gabriel River Fwy produces an estimated 79 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 quiet suburban street at night.
At source
79 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
65 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
57 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
49 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
41 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 4% of Los Neitos sits under tree canopy (lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 63% 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 Los Neitos. 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.
Airport Noise
Los Angeles International (LAX) sits west of Los Neitos. The U.S. Department of Transportation measures aviation noise around this airport directly, 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 45 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Los Neitos, particularly to the east, 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 Neitos
The bar chart below shows the share of Los Neitos residents in each noise band. About 30% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 31% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Los Neitos Compares
Los Neitos sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Los Neitos's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Lowell, Mountain View, Little Lake City, and The Plaza.
Average noise level (dBA)
Los Neitos's 58.1 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. California as a whole averages 54.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Los Neitos because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 62.0% of Los Neitos 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, 62.0% of Los Neitos's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a California average of 36.0% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Los Neitos
- 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 San Gabriel River Fwy 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 4% of Los Neitos is under tree cover (lighter 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. Los Angeles International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the west. Neighborhoods to the east of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
