Noise Levels in Perry Heights, OH | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
52 dBA
Average noise across Perry Heights
Quiet office to normal conversation
2,005
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
26% of Perry Heights residents
78 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Perry Heights 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 2,005 Perry Heights residents, or 26.4%, live above that level. By land area, 28.4% of Perry Heights is above 55 dBA.
71.6% below 55 dBA
28.4% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Perry Heights compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Perry Heights
Average noise levels for Perry Heights residents, grouped by direction from the center of Perry Heights. Southern Perry Heights carries the highest population-weighted average; Western Perry Heights carries the lowest. Just 27% of residents in Western Perry Heights live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in Southern Perry Heights.
Central Perry Heights
53.6 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Perry Heights
51.6 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Perry Heights
51.6 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Perry Heights
56.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Perry Heights
51.3 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Perry Heights sounds about 39% louder than Western Perry Heights to the human ear, a 4.7 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 Lincoln Way E do you need to be?
Lincoln Way E produces an estimated 62 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
62 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
48 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
41 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 26% of Perry Heights sits under tree canopy (about average for cities) and roughly 27% 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 Perry Heights. 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 Perry Heights
The bar chart below shows the share of Perry Heights residents in each noise band. About 72% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 5% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Perry Heights Compares
Perry Heights sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how Perry Heights's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Navarre, Doylestown, Dalton, and Apple Creek.
Average noise level (dBA)
Perry Heights's 52.5 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. Ohio as a whole averages 51.1 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Perry Heights because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 26.4% of Perry Heights 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, 28.4% of Perry Heights's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Ohio average of 26.4% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Perry Heights
- 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 Lincoln Way E 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 26% of Perry Heights is under tree cover (about average for cities), and the dominant land cover is low-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.
