Noise Levels in North Country Meadows, Oildale, CA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map

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 2,092 North Country Meadows residents, or 39.2%, live above that level. By land area, 42.3% of North Country Meadows is above 55 dBA.

See how noise in North Country Meadows compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.

Noise by Part of North Country Meadows

Average noise levels for North Country Meadows residents, grouped by direction from the center of North Country Meadows. The highest population-weighted average is in southern North Country Meadows; the lowest is in northwestern North Country Meadows, where just 28% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a third of the share in the loudest section.

To the human ear, noise in southern North Country Meadows sounds about 28% louder than in northwestern North Country Meadows, a 3.6 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.

Rail Noise

Active freight rail runs through parts of North Country Meadows. 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 North Country Meadows

The bar chart below shows the share of North Country Meadows residents in each noise band. About 63% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 14% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.

How North Country Meadows Compares

North Country Meadows sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how North Country Meadows's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Olive Drive Area, La Cresta-Alta Vista, Homaker Park, and Casa Loma.

Average noise level (dBA)

North Country Meadows's 54.9 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 Country Meadows because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.

Share of residents above 55 dBA

About 39.2% of North Country Meadows 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, 42.3% of North Country Meadows'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 Country Meadows

• 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 1% of North Country Meadows 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.

Sources & Methodology