Noise Levels in Medina, WA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
52 dBA
Average noise across Medina
Quiet office to normal conversation
771
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
28% of Medina residents
76 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Medina 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 771 Medina residents, or 27.9%, live above that level. By land area, 36.5% of Medina is above 55 dBA.
63.5% below 55 dBA
36.5% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Medina compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Medina
Average noise levels for Medina residents, grouped by direction from the center of Medina. The highest population-weighted average is in northern Medina; the lowest is in central Medina, where just 16% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in the loudest section.
Northern Medina
55.4 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northwestern Medina
53.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Medina
53.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southeastern Medina
52.2 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Central Medina
51.3 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in northern Medina sounds about 33% louder than in central Medina, a 4.1 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 State Rte 520 do you need to be?
State Rte 520 produces an estimated 69 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
69 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
165 ft
57 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
49 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 41% of Medina sits under tree canopy (heavier than most cities) and roughly 34% 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
Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA) sits south of Medina. 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 75 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Medina, particularly to the north, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Medina
The bar chart below shows the share of Medina residents in each noise band. About 60% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 10% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Medina Compares
Medina sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Medina's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Clyde Hill, Indianola, Suquamish, and Algona.
Average noise level (dBA)
Medina's 52.4 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Washington as a whole averages 51.3 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Medina because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 27.9% of Medina 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, 36.5% of Medina's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Washington average of 27.7% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Medina
- 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 Rte 520 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 41% of Medina is under tree cover (heavier than most cities), 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. Seattle-Tacoma International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the south. Neighborhoods to the north of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
