Noise Levels in Mission Hills, Pittsburgh, PA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
58 dBA
Average noise across Mission Hills
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
3,038
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
56% of Mission Hills residents
71 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Mission Hills 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 3,038 Mission Hills residents, or 55.9%, live above that level. By land area, 51.8% of Mission Hills is above 55 dBA.
48.2% below 55 dBA
51.8% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Mission Hills compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Mission Hills
Average noise levels for Mission Hills residents, grouped by direction from the center of Mission Hills. The highest population-weighted average is in southern Mission Hills; the lowest is in western Mission Hills, where just 42% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in the loudest section.
Southern Mission Hills
60.2 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northern Mission Hills
59.3 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northwestern Mission Hills
58.4 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southeastern Mission Hills
58.1 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western Mission Hills
56.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
To the human ear, noise in southern Mission Hills sounds about 29% louder than in western Mission Hills, a 3.7 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 Washington Rd do you need to be?
Washington Rd produces an estimated 65 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
65 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
51 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 33% of Mission Hills sits under tree canopy (much heavier than most neighborhoods) 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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Rail Noise
Active freight rail runs through parts of Mission Hills. 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
Pittsburgh International (PIT) sits northwest of Mission Hills. 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 65 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Mission Hills, particularly to the southeast, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Mission Hills
The bar chart below shows the share of Mission Hills residents in each noise band. About 21% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 19% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Mission Hills Compares
Mission Hills sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Mission Hills's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Banksville, Mount Washington, Beechview, and Bluff.
Average noise level (dBA)
Mission Hills's 57.5 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 Mission Hills because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 55.9% of Mission Hills 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, 51.8% of Mission Hills'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 Mission Hills
- 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 Washington Rd 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 33% of Mission Hills 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. Pittsburgh International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northwest. Neighborhoods to the southeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
