Noise Levels in Monterey, Jacksonville, FL | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
56 dBA
Average noise across Monterey
Quiet office to normal conversation
1,349
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
49% of Monterey residents
77 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Monterey 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 1,349 Monterey residents, or 48.6%, live above that level. By land area, 48.9% of Monterey is above 55 dBA.
51.1% below 55 dBA
48.9% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Monterey compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Monterey
Average noise levels for Monterey residents, grouped by direction from the center of Monterey. The highest population-weighted average is in southwestern Monterey; the lowest is in northern Monterey, where just 15% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a third of the share in the loudest section.
Southwestern Monterey
65.9 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Southern Monterey
64.9 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Central Monterey
60.0 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northern Monterey
51.0 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
To the human ear, noise in southwestern Monterey sounds about 181% louder than in northern Monterey, a 14.9 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 77 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
77 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
63 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
55 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
47 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
39 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 27% of Monterey sits under tree canopy (heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 31% 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
Jacksonville International (JAX) sits northwest of Monterey. 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 45 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Monterey, 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 Monterey
The bar chart below shows the share of Monterey residents in each noise band. About 58% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 9% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Monterey Compares
Monterey sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Monterey's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with fairways-forest-jacksonville-fl, University Park-Jacksonville, hogans-creek-jacksonville-fl, and Lackawanna.
Average noise level (dBA)
Monterey's 55.9 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Florida as a whole averages 51.6 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Monterey because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 48.6% of Monterey 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, 48.9% of Monterey's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Florida average of 31.8% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Monterey
- 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 27% of Monterey is under tree cover (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. Jacksonville International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northwest. Neighborhoods to the southeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
