Noise Levels in Park Hills, Yonkers, NY | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
59 dBA
Average noise across Park Hills
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
7,118
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
74% of Park Hills residents
78 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Park Hills 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 7,118 Park Hills residents, or 74.5%, live above that level. By land area, 73.9% of Park Hills is above 55 dBA.
26.1% below 55 dBA
73.9% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Park Hills compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Park Hills
Average noise levels for Park Hills residents, grouped by direction from the center of Park Hills. The highest population-weighted average is in southeastern Park Hills; the lowest is in northern Park Hills, where just 42% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in the loudest section.
Southeastern Park Hills
67.2 dBA · Loud
Highway traffic 50 ft away
Eastern Park Hills
66.3 dBA · Loud
Highway traffic 50 ft away
Central Park Hills
60.1 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southwestern Park Hills
59.9 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northern Park Hills
57.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
To the human ear, noise in southeastern Park Hills sounds about 96% louder than in northern Park Hills, a 9.7 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 Saw Mill River Pkwy do you need to be?
Saw Mill River Pkwy 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 quiet suburban street at night.
At source
76 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
63 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
56 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
49 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
41 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 20% of Park Hills sits under tree canopy (heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 60% 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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Airport Noise
Laguardia (LGA) sits south of Park Hills. 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 Park Hills, 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 Park Hills
The bar chart below shows the share of Park Hills residents in each noise band. About 16% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 45% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Park Hills Compares
Park Hills sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Park Hills's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Ludlow, Schuylerville, Spuyten Duyvil, and Morris Park.
Average noise level (dBA)
Park Hills's 59.0 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. New York as a whole averages 55.4 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Park Hills because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 74.5% of Park Hills 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, 73.9% of Park Hills's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a New York average of 30.9% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Park Hills
- 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 Saw Mill River Pkwy 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 20% of Park Hills is under tree cover (heavier 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. Laguardia's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the south. Neighborhoods to the north of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
