Noise Levels in Mount Tabor, Portland, OR | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
54 dBA
Average noise across Mount Tabor
Quiet office to normal conversation
4,237
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
50% of Mount Tabor residents
66 dBA
Loudest residential point
Busy restaurant
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Mount Tabor 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 4,237 Mount Tabor residents, or 49.9%, live above that level. By land area, 54.4% of Mount Tabor is above 55 dBA.
45.6% below 55 dBA
54.4% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Mount Tabor compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Mount Tabor
Average noise levels for Mount Tabor residents, grouped by direction from the center of Mount Tabor. The highest population-weighted average is in western Mount Tabor; the lowest is in southwestern Mount Tabor, where just 35% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in the loudest section.
Western Mount Tabor
56.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northeastern Mount Tabor
56.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Central Mount Tabor
55.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southeastern Mount Tabor
54.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southwestern Mount Tabor
53.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in western Mount Tabor sounds about 20% louder than in southwestern Mount Tabor, a 2.6 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 66 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
66 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
52 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 37% of Mount Tabor sits under tree canopy (much heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 50% 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
Portland International (PDX) sits north of Mount Tabor. 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 Mount Tabor, particularly to the south, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Mount Tabor
The bar chart below shows the share of Mount Tabor residents in each noise band. About 50% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 3% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Mount Tabor Compares
Mount Tabor sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Mount Tabor's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Brentwood-Darlington, King, Center, and Corbett-Terwilliger-Lair Hill.
Average noise level (dBA)
Mount Tabor's 54.5 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Oregon as a whole averages 52.9 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Mount Tabor because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 49.9% of Mount Tabor 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, 54.4% of Mount Tabor's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Oregon average of 24.2% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Mount Tabor
- 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 37% of Mount Tabor is under tree cover (much heavier than most 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. Portland International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the north. Neighborhoods to the south of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
