Noise Levels in Olympic West, Longview, WA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
54 dBA
Average noise across Olympic West
Quiet office to normal conversation
1,374
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
38% of Olympic West residents
65 dBA
Loudest residential point
Busy restaurant
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Olympic West 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 1,374 Olympic West residents, or 38.4%, live above that level. By land area, 38.8% of Olympic West is above 55 dBA.
61.2% below 55 dBA
38.8% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Olympic West compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Olympic West
Average noise levels for Olympic West residents, grouped by direction from the center of Olympic West. The highest population-weighted average is in southern Olympic West; the lowest is in central Olympic West, where just 25% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in the loudest section.
Southern Olympic West
55.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Olympic West
54.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Central Olympic West
52.3 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in southern Olympic West sounds about 27% louder than in central Olympic West, a 3.5 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 do you need to be?
produces an estimated 65 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
65 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
51 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
42 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
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 7% of Olympic West sits under tree canopy (lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 57% 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.
-->
How Noise Is Distributed Across Olympic West
The bar chart below shows the share of Olympic West residents in each noise band. About 51% 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 Olympic West Compares
Olympic West sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Olympic West's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with saint-helens-longview-wa, Highlands, West Longview, and columbia-valley-gardens-longview-wa.
Average noise level (dBA)
Olympic West's 53.5 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. Washington as a whole averages 51.3 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Olympic West because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 38.4% of Olympic West 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, 38.8% of Olympic West's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Washington average of 27.7% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Olympic West
- 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 7% of Olympic West is under tree cover (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.
