Noise Levels in North City Farms, Sacramento, CA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
59 dBA
Average noise across North City Farms
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
2,145
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
74% of North City Farms residents
91 dBA
Loudest residential point
Power saw
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across North City Farms 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 2,145 North City Farms residents, or 73.5%, live above that level. By land area, 81.0% of North City Farms is above 55 dBA.
19.0% below 55 dBA
81.0% above 55 dBA
See how noise in North City Farms compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of North City Farms
Average noise levels for North City Farms residents, grouped by direction from the center of North City Farms. Eastern North City Farms carries the highest population-weighted average; Central North City Farms carries the lowest. Just 59% of residents in Central North City Farms live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in Eastern North City Farms.
Central North City Farms
57.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern North City Farms
68.1 dBA · Loud
Highway traffic 50 ft away
Northern North City Farms
61.4 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Southern North City Farms
60.0 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western North City Farms
62.9 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Eastern North City Farms sounds about 114% louder than Central North City Farms to the human ear, a 11.0 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 91 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 office to normal conversation.
At source
91 dBA
Power saw
165 ft
77 dBA
City bus interior
330 ft
69 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
660 ft
60 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
¼ mile
52 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
½ mile
44 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 3% of North City Farms sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 49% 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 North City Farms. 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
Sacramento International (SMF) sits northwest of North City Farms. 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 55 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of North City Farms, 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 North City Farms
The bar chart below shows the share of North City Farms residents in each noise band. About 8% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 37% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How North City Farms Compares
North City Farms sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how North City Farms's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Woodbine, Lawrence Park, Campus Commons, and broderick-west-sacramento-ca.
Average noise level (dBA)
North City Farms's 59.2 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. California as a whole averages 54.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than North City Farms because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 73.5% of North City Farms 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, 81.0% of North City Farms'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 North City Farms
- 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 3% of North City Farms is under tree cover (much lighter than most neighborhoods), 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. Sacramento International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northwest. Neighborhoods to the southeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
