Noise Levels in Mullford Gardens, San Leandro, CA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
52 dBA
Average noise across Mullford Gardens
Quiet office to normal conversation
1,003
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
23% of Mullford Gardens residents
70 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Mullford Gardens 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 1,003 Mullford Gardens residents, or 22.9%, live above that level. By land area, 24.7% of Mullford Gardens is above 55 dBA.
75.3% below 55 dBA
24.7% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Mullford Gardens compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Mullford Gardens
Average noise levels for Mullford Gardens residents, grouped by direction from the center of Mullford Gardens. The highest population-weighted average is in eastern Mullford Gardens; the lowest is in western Mullford Gardens, where just 14% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a third of the share in the loudest section.
Eastern Mullford Gardens
58.1 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southwestern Mullford Gardens
53.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Central Mullford Gardens
53.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northwestern Mullford Gardens
51.8 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Mullford Gardens
51.8 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in eastern Mullford Gardens sounds about 55% louder than in western Mullford Gardens, a 6.3 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 Nimitz Fwy do you need to be?
Nimitz Fwy produces an estimated 74 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
74 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
59 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
51 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
42 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 3% of Mullford Gardens sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 55% 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 Mullford Gardens. 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 Francisco Bay Oakland International (OAK) sits northwest of Mullford Gardens. 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 50 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Mullford Gardens, 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 Mullford Gardens
The bar chart below shows the share of Mullford Gardens residents in each noise band. About 64% 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 Mullford Gardens Compares
Mullford Gardens sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Mullford Gardens's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Estudillo Estates-Glen, North Stonehurst, Highland, and Cox.
Average noise level (dBA)
Mullford Gardens's 52.5 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 Mullford Gardens because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 22.9% of Mullford Gardens 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, 24.7% of Mullford Gardens'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 Mullford Gardens
- 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 Nimitz 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 3% of Mullford Gardens is under tree cover (much lighter 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. San Francisco Bay Oakland International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northwest. Neighborhoods to the southeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
