Noise Levels in Marvintown, Erie, PA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
55 dBA
Average noise across Marvintown
Quiet office to normal conversation
1,358
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
37% of Marvintown residents
68 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Marvintown 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 1,358 Marvintown residents, or 36.7%, live above that level. By land area, 42.5% of Marvintown is above 55 dBA.
57.5% below 55 dBA
42.5% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Marvintown compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Marvintown
Average noise levels for Marvintown residents, grouped by direction from the center of Marvintown. The highest population-weighted average is in southern Marvintown; the lowest is in central Marvintown, where just 36% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in the loudest section.
Southern Marvintown
59.3 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northeastern Marvintown
57.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Central Marvintown
56.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
To the human ear, noise in southern Marvintown sounds about 20% louder than in central Marvintown, a 2.6 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 68 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
68 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
165 ft
53 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
330 ft
44 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
660 ft
36 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 24% of Marvintown sits under tree canopy (heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 39% 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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How Noise Is Distributed Across Marvintown
The bar chart below shows the share of Marvintown residents in each noise band. About 54% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 15% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Marvintown Compares
Marvintown sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Marvintown's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with South East Hills, Little Italy, Central Eastside, and West Side Squires.
Average noise level (dBA)
Marvintown's 54.8 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Pennsylvania as a whole averages 52.9 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Marvintown because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 36.7% of Marvintown 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, 42.5% of Marvintown's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Pennsylvania average of 33.5% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Marvintown
- 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 24% of Marvintown is under tree cover (heavier 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.
