Noise Levels in Potsdam, NY | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
48 dBA
Average noise across Potsdam
Quiet office
1,528
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
12% of Potsdam residents
82 dBA
Loudest residential point
Food blender at arm’s length
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Potsdam 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 1,528 Potsdam residents, or 11.9%, live above that level. By land area, 9.7% of Potsdam is above 55 dBA.
90.3% below 55 dBA
9.7% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Potsdam compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Potsdam
Average noise levels for Potsdam residents, grouped by direction from the center of Potsdam. Northern Potsdam carries the highest population-weighted average; Eastern Potsdam carries the lowest. Just 3% of residents in Eastern Potsdam live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in Northern Potsdam.
Central Potsdam
50.2 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
Eastern Potsdam
43.2 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Northern Potsdam
52.0 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Potsdam
43.9 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Western Potsdam
44.4 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Northern Potsdam sounds about 84% louder than Eastern Potsdam to the human ear, a 8.8 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 Clare-pierrepont do you need to be?
Clare-pierrepont produces an estimated 56 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
56 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
165 ft
43 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
330 ft
35 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 40% of Potsdam sits under tree canopy (about average for cities) and roughly 17% 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 Potsdam. 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 Potsdam
The bar chart below shows the share of Potsdam residents in each noise band. About 87% 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 Potsdam Compares
Potsdam sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Potsdam's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Canton, Massena, Ogdensburg, and Malone.
Average noise level (dBA)
Potsdam's 47.6 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 Potsdam because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 11.9% of Potsdam 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, 9.7% of Potsdam'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 Potsdam
- 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 Clare-pierrepont 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 40% of Potsdam is under tree cover (about average for cities), and the dominant land cover is low-density developed open space. 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.
