Noise Levels in Port Murray, NJ | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
40 dBA
Average noise across Port Murray
Soft rainfall
75
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
5% of Port Murray residents
75 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Port Murray 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 75 Port Murray residents, or 5.4%, live above that level. By land area, 7.7% of Port Murray is above 55 dBA.
92.3% below 55 dBA
7.7% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Port Murray compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Port Murray
Average noise levels for Port Murray residents, grouped by direction from the center of Port Murray. The highest population-weighted average is in western Port Murray; the lowest is in southeastern Port Murray, where just 0% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
Western Port Murray
47.5 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Southwestern Port Murray
46.5 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Northeastern Port Murray
39.6 dBA · Quiet
Soft rainfall
Eastern Port Murray
36.1 dBA · Quiet
Soft rainfall
Southeastern Port Murray
30.1 dBA · Quiet
Whisper
To the human ear, noise in western Port Murray sounds about 234% louder than in southeastern Port Murray, a 17.4 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 Nj 57 do you need to be?
Nj 57 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
40 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 60% of Port Murray sits under tree canopy (heavier than most cities) and roughly 1% 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.
-->
Rail Noise
Active freight rail runs through parts of Port Murray. 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 Port Murray
The bar chart below shows the share of Port Murray residents in each noise band. About 92% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 1% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Port Murray Compares
Port Murray sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Port Murray's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Cedar Heights, Kenvil, Oxford, and Great Meadows.
Average noise level (dBA)
Port Murray's 39.8 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 Port Murray because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 5.4% of Port Murray 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, 7.7% of Port Murray'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 Port Murray
- 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 Nj 57 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 60% of Port Murray is under tree cover (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.
