Noise Levels in Mondawin-Walbrook, Baltimore, MD | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
56 dBA
Average noise across Mondawin-Walbrook
Quiet office to normal conversation
4,121
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
52% of Mondawin-Walbrook residents
68 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Mondawin-Walbrook 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 4,121 Mondawin-Walbrook residents, or 52.1%, live above that level. By land area, 57.1% of Mondawin-Walbrook is above 55 dBA.
42.9% below 55 dBA
57.1% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Mondawin-Walbrook compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Mondawin-Walbrook
Average noise levels for Mondawin-Walbrook residents, grouped by direction from the center of Mondawin-Walbrook. The highest population-weighted average is in northeastern Mondawin-Walbrook; the lowest is in northwestern Mondawin-Walbrook, where just 34% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in the loudest section.
Northeastern Mondawin-Walbrook
60.9 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southwestern Mondawin-Walbrook
59.9 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western Mondawin-Walbrook
56.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southeastern Mondawin-Walbrook
55.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northwestern Mondawin-Walbrook
55.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in northeastern Mondawin-Walbrook sounds about 48% louder than in northwestern Mondawin-Walbrook, a 5.7 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 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
55 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
330 ft
47 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
40 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 14% of Mondawin-Walbrook sits under tree canopy (about average for neighborhoods) and roughly 62% 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
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall (BWI) sits south of Mondawin-Walbrook. 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 Mondawin-Walbrook, 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 Mondawin-Walbrook
The bar chart below shows the share of Mondawin-Walbrook residents in each noise band. About 42% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 18% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Mondawin-Walbrook Compares
Mondawin-Walbrook sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Mondawin-Walbrook's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Govans, Hunting Ridge, Fells Point, and Reservoir Hill-Bolton Hill.
Average noise level (dBA)
Mondawin-Walbrook's 55.7 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. Maryland as a whole averages 52.3 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Mondawin-Walbrook because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 52.1% of Mondawin-Walbrook 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, 57.1% of Mondawin-Walbrook's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Maryland average of 32.9% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Mondawin-Walbrook
- 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 14% of Mondawin-Walbrook 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. Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the south. Neighborhoods to the north of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
