Noise Levels in Oakland Beach, Warwick, RI | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
53 dBA
Average noise across Oakland Beach
Quiet office to normal conversation
930
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
41% of Oakland Beach residents
59 dBA
Loudest residential point
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Oakland Beach 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 930 Oakland Beach residents, or 40.7%, live above that level. By land area, 36.5% of Oakland Beach is above 55 dBA.
63.5% below 55 dBA
36.5% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Oakland Beach compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Oakland Beach
Average noise levels for Oakland Beach residents, grouped by direction from the center of Oakland Beach. The highest population-weighted average is in northwestern Oakland Beach; the lowest is in southern Oakland Beach, where just 13% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a third of the share in the loudest section.
Northwestern Oakland Beach
54.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Oakland Beach
54.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Central Oakland Beach
52.7 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southeastern Oakland Beach
49.7 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Southern Oakland Beach
49.5 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
To the human ear, noise in northwestern Oakland Beach sounds about 41% louder than in southern Oakland Beach, a 5.0 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 Oakland Beach Ave do you need to be?
Oakland Beach Ave produces an estimated 57 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
57 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
44 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 31% of Oakland Beach sits under tree canopy (heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 40% 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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Airport Noise
Rhode Island Tf Green International (PVD) sits northwest of Oakland Beach. 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 45 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Oakland Beach, 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 Oakland Beach
The bar chart below shows the share of Oakland Beach residents in each noise band. About 67% 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 Oakland Beach Compares
Oakland Beach sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Oakland Beach's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with lockwood-corner-warwick-ri, coles-warwick-ri, spring-green-warwick-ri, and shawomet-warwick-ri.
Average noise level (dBA)
Oakland Beach's 52.9 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Rhode Island as a whole averages 53.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Oakland Beach because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 40.7% of Oakland Beach 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, 36.5% of Oakland Beach's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Rhode Island average of 36.6% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Oakland Beach
- 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 Oakland Beach Ave 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 31% of Oakland Beach is under tree cover (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. Rhode Island Tf Green International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northwest. Neighborhoods to the southeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
