Noise Levels in Pleasant Acres, New Milford, NJ | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
49 dBA
Average noise across Pleasant Acres
Quiet office
252
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
10% of Pleasant Acres residents
68 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Pleasant Acres 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 252 Pleasant Acres residents, or 10.2%, live above that level. By land area, 15.2% of Pleasant Acres is above 55 dBA.
84.8% below 55 dBA
15.2% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Pleasant Acres compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Pleasant Acres
Average noise levels for Pleasant Acres residents, grouped by direction from the center of Pleasant Acres. The highest population-weighted average is in northern Pleasant Acres; the lowest is in central Pleasant Acres, where just 8% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in the loudest section.
Northern Pleasant Acres
55.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Pleasant Acres
53.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northeastern Pleasant Acres
50.4 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
Central Pleasant Acres
49.2 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
To the human ear, noise in northern Pleasant Acres sounds about 53% louder than in central Pleasant Acres, a 6.1 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 Bergen County 41 I do you need to be?
Bergen County 41 I produces an estimated 59 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
59 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
44 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
330 ft
36 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 32% of Pleasant Acres sits under tree canopy (much heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 35% 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 southeast of Pleasant Acres. 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 Pleasant Acres, particularly to the northwest, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Pleasant Acres
The bar chart below shows the share of Pleasant Acres residents in each noise band. About 83% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 3% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Pleasant Acres Compares
Pleasant Acres sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Pleasant Acres's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Colonial Village, Surrey Lane, cragmere-park-mahwah-nj, and Coytesville.
Average noise level (dBA)
Pleasant Acres's 48.6 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. New Jersey as a whole averages 49.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Pleasant Acres because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 10.2% of Pleasant Acres 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, 15.2% of Pleasant Acres's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a New Jersey average of 25.2% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Pleasant Acres
- 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 Bergen County 41 I 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 32% of Pleasant Acres is under tree cover (much heavier than most neighborhoods), 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.
- Airport noise is directional. Laguardia's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the southeast. Neighborhoods to the northwest of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
