Noise Levels in Ovilla, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
45 dBA
Average noise across Ovilla
Quiet suburban street at night
218
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
5% of Ovilla residents
60 dBA
Loudest residential point
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Ovilla 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 218 Ovilla residents, or 5.3%, live above that level. By land area, 5.3% of Ovilla is above 55 dBA.
94.7% below 55 dBA
5.3% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Ovilla compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Ovilla
Average noise levels for Ovilla residents, grouped by direction from the center of Ovilla. Central Ovilla carries the highest population-weighted average; Eastern Ovilla carries the lowest. Just 0% of residents in Eastern Ovilla live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in Central Ovilla.
Central Ovilla
48.7 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Eastern Ovilla
40.0 dBA · Quiet
Soft rainfall
Northern Ovilla
48.2 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Southern Ovilla
41.4 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Western Ovilla
45.1 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Central Ovilla sounds about 83% louder than Eastern Ovilla to the human ear, a 8.7 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 do you need to be?
produces an estimated 60 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
60 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
46 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
38 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 10% of Ovilla sits under tree canopy (lighter than most cities) and roughly 16% 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.
-->
Airport Noise
Dallas-Fort Worth International (DFW) sits north of Ovilla. 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 Ovilla, 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 Ovilla
The bar chart below shows the share of Ovilla residents in each noise band. About 98% 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 Ovilla Compares
Ovilla sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Ovilla's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Hutchins, Palmer, Wilmer, and Highland Park.
Average noise level (dBA)
Ovilla's 44.7 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Ovilla because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 5.3% of Ovilla 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, 5.3% of Ovilla's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Texas average of 22.8% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Ovilla
- 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 10% of Ovilla is under tree cover (lighter than most cities), and the dominant land cover is grassland. 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. Dallas-Fort Worth International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the north. Neighborhoods to the south of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
