Noise Levels in Oakwood Gardens, St. Petersburg, FL | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
58 dBA
Average noise across Oakwood Gardens
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
2,052
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
84% of Oakwood Gardens residents
81 dBA
Loudest residential point
Food blender at arm’s length
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Oakwood Gardens 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 2,052 Oakwood Gardens residents, or 84.5%, live above that level. By land area, 82.5% of Oakwood Gardens is above 55 dBA.
17.5% below 55 dBA
82.5% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Oakwood Gardens compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Oakwood Gardens
Average noise levels for Oakwood Gardens residents, grouped by direction from the center of Oakwood Gardens. Southern Oakwood Gardens carries the highest population-weighted average; Eastern Oakwood Gardens carries the lowest. Just 69% of residents in Eastern Oakwood Gardens live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in Southern Oakwood Gardens.
Central Oakwood Gardens
58.3 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern Oakwood Gardens
55.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Oakwood Gardens
57.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southern Oakwood Gardens
65.5 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Western Oakwood Gardens
58.2 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southern Oakwood Gardens sounds about 96% louder than Eastern Oakwood Gardens to the human ear, a 9.7 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-275 do you need to be?
I-275 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
56 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
48 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
40 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 13% of Oakwood Gardens sits under tree canopy (about average for neighborhoods) and roughly 45% 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
St Pete-Clearwater International (PIE) sits north of Oakwood Gardens. 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 Oakwood Gardens, particularly to the south, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Oakwood Gardens
The bar chart below shows the share of Oakwood Gardens residents in each noise band. About 11% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 18% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Oakwood Gardens Compares
Oakwood Gardens sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Oakwood Gardens's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with crescent-heights-st-petersburg-fl, woodlawn-st-petersburg-fl, Harris Park, and historic-kenwood-st-petersburg-fl.
Average noise level (dBA)
Oakwood Gardens's 57.9 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Florida as a whole averages 51.6 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Oakwood Gardens because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 84.5% of Oakwood Gardens 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, 82.5% of Oakwood Gardens's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Florida average of 31.8% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Oakwood Gardens
- 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-275 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 13% of Oakwood Gardens is under tree cover (about average for 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. St Pete-Clearwater International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the north. Neighborhoods to the south of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
