Noise Levels in Ocean View, San Francisco, CA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
58 dBA
Average noise across Ocean View
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
10,786
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
61% of Ocean View residents
85 dBA
Loudest residential point
Food blender at arm’s length
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Ocean View 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 10,786 Ocean View residents, or 60.6%, live above that level. By land area, 57.9% of Ocean View is above 55 dBA.
42.1% below 55 dBA
57.9% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Ocean View compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Ocean View
Average noise levels for Ocean View residents, grouped by direction from the center of Ocean View. The highest population-weighted average is in southwestern Ocean View; the lowest is in northern Ocean View, where just 20% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a third of the share in the loudest section.
Southwestern Ocean View
71.8 dBA · Loud
City bus interior
Southeastern Ocean View
69.4 dBA · Loud
Highway traffic 50 ft away
Eastern Ocean View
59.7 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northeastern Ocean View
53.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Ocean View
51.3 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in southwestern Ocean View sounds about 314% louder than in northern Ocean View, a 20.5 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-280 do you need to be?
I-280 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 2% of Ocean View sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 61% 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 Ocean View. 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
San Francisco International (SFO) sits southeast of Ocean View. The U.S. Department of Transportation measures aviation noise around this airport directly, 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 75 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Ocean View, 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 Ocean View
The bar chart below shows the share of Ocean View residents in each noise band. About 43% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 28% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Ocean View Compares
Ocean View sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Ocean View's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Lakeshore, Noe Valley, Visitacion Valley, and Nob Hill.
Average noise level (dBA)
Ocean View's 57.5 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. California as a whole averages 54.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Ocean View because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 60.6% of Ocean View 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, 57.9% of Ocean View'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 Ocean View
- 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-280 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 2% of Ocean View 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.
- Airport noise is directional. San Francisco International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the southeast. Neighborhoods to the northwest of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
