Noise Levels in Poly High District, Long Beach, CA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
55 dBA
Average noise across Poly High District
Quiet office to normal conversation
9,842
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
41% of Poly High District residents
74 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Poly High District 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 9,842 Poly High District residents, or 40.9%, live above that level. By land area, 49.0% of Poly High District is above 55 dBA.
51.0% below 55 dBA
49.0% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Poly High District compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Poly High District
Average noise levels for Poly High District residents, grouped by direction from the center of Poly High District. The highest population-weighted average is in western Poly High District; the lowest is in northeastern Poly High District, where just 3% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
Western Poly High District
59.3 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southwestern Poly High District
58.2 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Central Poly High District
56.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northern Poly High District
55.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northeastern Poly High District
52.6 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in western Poly High District sounds about 59% louder than in northeastern Poly High District, a 6.7 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 74 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
74 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
61 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
53 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
45 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
37 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 1% of Poly High District sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 69% 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 Poly High District. 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.
Airport Noise
Long Beach (Daugherty Field) (LGB) sits northeast of Poly High District. The U.S. Department of Transportation models aviation noise around this airport from federal traffic data, 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 55 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Poly High District, particularly to the southwest, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Poly High District
The bar chart below shows the share of Poly High District residents in each noise band. About 55% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 11% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Poly High District Compares
Poly High District sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Poly High District's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with West Side, Circle Area, Wrigley, and East Side.
Average noise level (dBA)
Poly High District's 54.7 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. California as a whole averages 54.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Poly High District because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 40.9% of Poly High District 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, 49.0% of Poly High District's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a California average of 36.0% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Poly High District
- 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 1% of Poly High District is under tree cover (much lighter 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. Long Beach (Daugherty Field)'s approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northeast. Neighborhoods to the southwest of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
