Noise Levels in Newton, UT | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
49 dBA
Average noise across Newton
Quiet office
101
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
12% of Newton residents
66 dBA
Loudest residential point
Busy restaurant
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Newton 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 101 Newton residents, or 11.6%, live above that level. By land area, 11.1% of Newton is above 55 dBA.
88.9% below 55 dBA
11.1% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Newton compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Newton
Average noise levels for Newton residents, grouped by direction from the center of Newton. Central Newton carries the highest population-weighted average; Southern Newton carries the lowest. Just 8% of residents in Southern Newton live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in Central Newton.
Central Newton
49.7 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Eastern Newton
48.6 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Northern Newton
47.2 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Southern Newton
46.8 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Western Newton
48.9 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Central Newton sounds about 22% louder than Southern Newton to the human ear, a 2.9 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 Hwy 23 do you need to be?
Hwy 23 produces an estimated 59 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
59 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
45 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
330 ft
37 dBA
Soft rainfall
660 ft
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 0% of Newton sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most cities) and roughly 15% 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 Newton. 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 Newton
The bar chart below shows the share of Newton residents in each noise band. About 96% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 0% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Newton Compares
Newton sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how Newton's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Clarkston, Riverside, Fielding, and Deweyville.
Average noise level (dBA)
Newton's 48.6 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. Utah as a whole averages 53.1 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Newton because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 11.6% of Newton 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, 11.1% of Newton's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Utah average of 25.8% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Newton
- 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 Hwy 23 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 0% of Newton is under tree cover (much lighter than most cities), and the dominant land cover is low-density developed open space. 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.
