Noise Levels in New Carrollton, MD | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
56 dBA
Average noise across New Carrollton
Quiet office to normal conversation
6,936
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
50% of New Carrollton residents
82 dBA
Loudest residential point
Food blender at arm’s length
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across New Carrollton 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 6,936 New Carrollton residents, or 49.5%, live above that level. By land area, 58.5% of New Carrollton is above 55 dBA.
41.5% below 55 dBA
58.5% above 55 dBA
See how noise in New Carrollton compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of New Carrollton
Average noise levels for New Carrollton residents, grouped by direction from the center of New Carrollton. Eastern New Carrollton carries the highest population-weighted average; Southern New Carrollton carries the lowest. Just 36% of residents in Southern New Carrollton live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in Eastern New Carrollton.
Central New Carrollton
54.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern New Carrollton
62.7 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Northern New Carrollton
55.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern New Carrollton
53.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western New Carrollton
54.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern New Carrollton sounds about 85% louder than Southern New Carrollton to the human ear, a 8.9 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 Capital Beltway do you need to be?
Capital Beltway produces an estimated 79 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 quiet suburban street at night.
At source
79 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
66 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
330 ft
59 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
51 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
¼ mile
44 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
½ mile
37 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 32% of New Carrollton sits under tree canopy (about average for cities) and roughly 40% 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 New Carrollton. 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
Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl (DCA) sits southwest of New Carrollton. 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 New Carrollton, particularly to the northeast, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across New Carrollton
The bar chart below shows the share of New Carrollton residents in each noise band. About 42% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 20% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How New Carrollton Compares
New Carrollton sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how New Carrollton's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with East Riverdale, Summerfield, Mitchellville, and Kettering.
Average noise level (dBA)
New Carrollton's 55.9 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. Maryland as a whole averages 52.3 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than New Carrollton because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 49.5% of New Carrollton residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's more than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 58.5% of New Carrollton'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 New Carrollton
- 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 Capital Beltway 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 32% of New Carrollton is under tree cover (about average for cities), 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. Ronald Reagan Washington Ntl's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the southwest. Neighborhoods to the northeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
