Noise Levels in Morgan Hill, CA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
51 dBA
Average noise across Morgan Hill
Quiet office
9,341
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
20% of Morgan Hill residents
89 dBA
Loudest residential point
Lawnmower at 1 m
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Morgan Hill 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 9,341 Morgan Hill residents, or 19.9%, live above that level. By land area, 25.5% of Morgan Hill is above 55 dBA.
74.5% below 55 dBA
25.5% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Morgan Hill compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Morgan Hill
Average noise levels for Morgan Hill residents, grouped by direction from the center of Morgan Hill. Central Morgan Hill carries the highest population-weighted average; Western Morgan Hill carries the lowest. Just 18% of residents in Western Morgan Hill live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in Central Morgan Hill.
Central Morgan Hill
55.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Morgan Hill
50.4 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
Northern Morgan Hill
51.8 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Morgan Hill
51.8 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Morgan Hill
48.5 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Central Morgan Hill sounds about 60% louder than Western Morgan Hill to the human ear, a 6.8 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 US Hwy 101 do you need to be?
US Hwy 101 produces an estimated 78 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
78 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
63 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
54 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
46 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
37 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 6% of Morgan Hill sits under tree canopy (lighter than most cities) and roughly 39% 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 Morgan Hill. 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.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Morgan Hill
The bar chart below shows the share of Morgan Hill residents in each noise band. About 79% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 8% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Morgan Hill Compares
Morgan Hill sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Morgan Hill's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Gilroy, Campbell, Los Gatos, and Hollister.
Average noise level (dBA)
Morgan Hill's 50.7 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. California as a whole averages 54.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Morgan Hill because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 19.9% of Morgan Hill residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's fewer than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 25.5% of Morgan Hill'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 Morgan Hill
- 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 US Hwy 101 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 6% of Morgan Hill is under tree cover (lighter than most cities), 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.
