Noise Levels in Paden, MS | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
47 dBA
Average noise across Paden
Quiet office
18
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
12% of Paden residents
73 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Paden 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 18 Paden residents, or 11.8%, live above that level. By land area, 23.3% of Paden is above 55 dBA.
76.7% below 55 dBA
23.3% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Paden compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Paden
Average noise levels for Paden residents, grouped by direction from the center of Paden. Southern Paden carries the highest population-weighted average; Western Paden carries the lowest. Just 0% of residents in Western Paden live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in Southern Paden.
Eastern Paden
46.9 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Northern Paden
51.7 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Paden
61.1 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Western Paden
39.4 dBA · Quiet
Soft rainfall
Southern Paden sounds about 350% louder than Western Paden to the human ear, a 21.7 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 County Rd 134 do you need to be?
County Rd 134 produces an estimated 55 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
55 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
165 ft
41 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
330 ft
35 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 62% of Paden sits under tree canopy (much heavier than most cities) and roughly 3% 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 Paden. 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.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Paden
The bar chart below shows the share of Paden residents in each noise band. About 86% 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 Paden Compares
Paden sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how Paden's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Cairo, Holcut, Bloody Springs, and Burtons.
Average noise level (dBA)
Paden's 47.1 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. Mississippi as a whole averages 47.9 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Paden because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 11.8% of Paden residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's more than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 23.3% of Paden's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Mississippi average of 17.8% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Paden
- 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 County Rd 134 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 62% of Paden is under tree cover (much heavier than most cities), and the dominant land cover is deciduous forest. 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.
