Noise Levels in Oakdale Farms, Norfolk, VA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
58 dBA
Average noise across Oakdale Farms
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
2,808
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
63% of Oakdale Farms residents
81 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Oakdale 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 2,808 Oakdale Farms residents, or 63.3%, live above that level. By land area, 69.7% of Oakdale Farms is above 55 dBA.
30.3% below 55 dBA
69.7% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Oakdale Farms compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Oakdale Farms
Average noise levels for Oakdale Farms residents, grouped by direction from the center of Oakdale Farms. The highest population-weighted average is in southwestern Oakdale Farms; the lowest is in northeastern Oakdale Farms, where just 38% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in the loudest section.
Southwestern Oakdale Farms
69.2 dBA · Loud
Highway traffic 50 ft away
Northwestern Oakdale Farms
65.0 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Central Oakdale Farms
61.9 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Western Oakdale Farms
60.9 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northeastern Oakdale Farms
55.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in southwestern Oakdale Farms sounds about 151% louder than in northeastern Oakdale Farms, a 13.3 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 I-64 do you need to be?
I-64 produces an estimated 78 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
78 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
64 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
55 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
47 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
39 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 36% of Oakdale Farms sits under tree canopy (much heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 37% 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 Oakdale 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
Norfolk International (ORF) sits southeast of Oakdale 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 65 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Oakdale Farms, particularly to the northwest, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Oakdale Farms
The bar chart below shows the share of Oakdale Farms residents in each noise band. About 38% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 24% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Oakdale Farms Compares
Oakdale Farms sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how Oakdale Farms's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Colonial Place Riverview, Larrymore Lawns, Larchmont-Edgewater, and Lamberts Point.
Average noise level (dBA)
Oakdale Farms's 57.8 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. Virginia as a whole averages 52.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Oakdale Farms because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 63.3% of Oakdale Farms 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, 69.7% of Oakdale Farms's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Virginia average of 30.0% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Oakdale 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 I-64 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 36% of Oakdale Farms is under tree cover (much heavier 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. Norfolk International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the southeast. Neighborhoods to the northwest of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
