Noise Levels in Mission Hills-San Diego, San Diego, CA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
60 dBA
Average noise across Mission Hills-San Diego
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
2,682
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
80% of Mission Hills-San Diego residents
84 dBA
Loudest residential point
Food blender at arm’s length
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Mission Hills-San Diego 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 2,682 Mission Hills-San Diego residents, or 79.7%, live above that level. By land area, 81.6% of Mission Hills-San Diego is above 55 dBA.
18.4% below 55 dBA
81.6% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Mission Hills-San Diego compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Mission Hills-San Diego
Average noise levels for Mission Hills-San Diego residents, grouped by direction from the center of Mission Hills-San Diego. Southern Mission Hills-San Diego carries the highest population-weighted average; Eastern Mission Hills-San Diego carries the lowest. Just 65% of residents in Eastern Mission Hills-San Diego live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in Southern Mission Hills-San Diego.
Central Mission Hills-San Diego
57.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern Mission Hills-San Diego
56.4 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northern Mission Hills-San Diego
56.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southern Mission Hills-San Diego
67.8 dBA · Loud
Highway traffic 50 ft away
Western Mission Hills-San Diego
64.6 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Southern Mission Hills-San Diego sounds about 120% louder than Eastern Mission Hills-San Diego to the human ear, a 11.4 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 San Diego Fwy do you need to be?
San Diego 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
58 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
50 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
42 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 13% of Mission Hills-San Diego sits under tree canopy (about average for neighborhoods) and roughly 56% 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-San Diego. 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
San Diego International (SAN) sits southwest of Mission Hills-San Diego. 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 55 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Mission Hills-San Diego, particularly to the northeast, 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-San Diego
The bar chart below shows the share of Mission Hills-San Diego residents in each noise band. About 8% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 40% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Mission Hills-San Diego Compares
Mission Hills-San Diego sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Mission Hills-San Diego's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Middletown, Little Italy, Kensington, and Chollas View.
Average noise level (dBA)
Mission Hills-San Diego's 60.3 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. California as a whole averages 54.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Mission Hills-San Diego because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 79.7% of Mission Hills-San Diego 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, 81.6% of Mission Hills-San Diego'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 Mission Hills-San Diego
- 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 Diego 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 13% of Mission Hills-San Diego is under tree cover (about average for 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. San Diego International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the southwest. Neighborhoods to the northeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
