Noise Levels in Midtown, Little Rock, AR | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
57 dBA
Average noise across Midtown
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
5,060
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
59% of Midtown residents
72 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Midtown 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 5,060 Midtown residents, or 59.3%, live above that level. By land area, 64.4% of Midtown is above 55 dBA.
35.6% below 55 dBA
64.4% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Midtown compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Midtown
Average noise levels for Midtown residents, grouped by direction from the center of Midtown. The highest population-weighted average is in southeastern Midtown; the lowest is in western Midtown, where just 35% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in the loudest section.
Southeastern Midtown
59.6 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern Midtown
58.8 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Central Midtown
57.4 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northwestern Midtown
56.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western Midtown
56.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
To the human ear, noise in southeastern Midtown sounds about 27% louder than in western Midtown, a 3.4 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 Nmississippist do you need to be?
Nmississippist produces an estimated 60 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
60 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
46 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
38 dBA
Soft rainfall
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 55% of Midtown sits under tree canopy (much heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 33% 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
Bill And Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Field (LIT) sits east of Midtown. 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 55 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Midtown, particularly to the west, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Midtown
The bar chart below shows the share of Midtown residents in each noise band. About 21% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 12% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Midtown Compares
Midtown sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how Midtown's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Walnut Valley, Upper Baseline, Otter Creek Crystal, and Chicot West.
Average noise level (dBA)
Midtown's 57.4 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. Arkansas as a whole averages 52.6 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Midtown because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 59.3% of Midtown residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's more than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 64.4% of Midtown's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Arkansas average of 29.9% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Midtown
- 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 Nmississippist 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 55% of Midtown is under tree cover (much 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.
- Airport noise is directional. Bill And Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Field's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the east. Neighborhoods to the west of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
