Noise Levels in Orem North, Orem, UT | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
55 dBA
Average noise across Orem North
Quiet office to normal conversation
1,808
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
44% of Orem North residents
76 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Orem North 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 1,808 Orem North residents, or 43.7%, live above that level. By land area, 55.2% of Orem North is above 55 dBA.
44.8% below 55 dBA
55.2% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Orem North compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Orem North
Average noise levels for Orem North residents, grouped by direction from the center of Orem North. The highest population-weighted average is in northwestern Orem North; the lowest is in eastern Orem North, where just 38% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in the loudest section.
Northwestern Orem North
64.5 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Western Orem North
64.5 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Central Orem North
56.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern Orem North
55.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in northwestern Orem North sounds about 89% louder than in eastern Orem North, a 9.2 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 76 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
76 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
61 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
53 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
45 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
36 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 9% of Orem North sits under tree canopy (lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 50% 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 Orem North. 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
Provo Municipal (PVU) sits south of Orem North. 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 Orem North, particularly to the north, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Orem North
The bar chart below shows the share of Orem North residents in each noise band. About 33% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 7% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Orem North Compares
Orem North sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Orem North's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Suncrest, Sharon, Lakeview, and Geneva.
Average noise level (dBA)
Orem North's 55.4 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Utah as a whole averages 53.1 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Orem North because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 43.7% of Orem North residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's fewer than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 55.2% of Orem North's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Utah average of 25.8% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Orem North
- 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 9% of Orem North 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.
- Airport noise is directional. Provo Municipal's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the south. Neighborhoods to the north of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
