Noise Levels in New Chicago, IN | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
55 dBA
Average noise across New Chicago
Quiet office to normal conversation
1,221
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
52% of New Chicago residents
66 dBA
Loudest residential point
Busy restaurant
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across New Chicago 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 1,221 New Chicago residents, or 52.5%, live above that level. By land area, 62.2% of New Chicago is above 55 dBA.
37.8% below 55 dBA
62.2% above 55 dBA
See how noise in New Chicago compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of New Chicago
Average noise levels for New Chicago residents, grouped by direction from the center of New Chicago. Western New Chicago carries the highest population-weighted average; Eastern New Chicago carries the lowest. Just 12% of residents in Eastern New Chicago live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in Western New Chicago.
Central New Chicago
56.4 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern New Chicago
49.9 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Northern New Chicago
53.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern New Chicago
57.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western New Chicago
58.4 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western New Chicago sounds about 80% louder than Eastern New Chicago to the human ear, a 8.5 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
45 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
660 ft
37 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 30% of New Chicago sits under tree canopy (about average for cities) and roughly 29% 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 Chicago. 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 New Chicago
The bar chart below shows the share of New Chicago residents in each noise band. About 45% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 10% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How New Chicago Compares
New Chicago sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how New Chicago's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Burns Harbor, Wanatah, Ogden Dunes, and Wheeler.
Average noise level (dBA)
New Chicago's 54.6 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Indiana as a whole averages 53.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than New Chicago because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 52.5% of New Chicago 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, 62.2% of New Chicago's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Indiana average of 37.8% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to New Chicago
- 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 30% of New Chicago 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.
