Noise Levels in Prince George County, VA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
50 dBA
Average noise across Prince George County
Quiet office
5,374
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
16% of Prince George County residents
97 dBA
Loudest residential point
Power saw
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Prince George County 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 5,374 Prince George County residents, or 15.8%, live above that level. By land area, 23.7% of Prince George County is above 55 dBA.
76.3% below 55 dBA
23.7% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Prince George County compares to similar-sized counties.
Noise by Part of Prince George County
Average noise levels for Prince George County residents, grouped by direction from the center of Prince George County. The highest population-weighted average is in the Petersburg area (southwestern Prince George County); the lowest is in eastern Prince George County, where just 3% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a third of the share in the loudest section.
Petersburg
60.2 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Prince George
59.6 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western Prince George County
53.6 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Hopewell
48.5 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Eastern Prince George County
43.8 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
To the human ear, noise in the Petersburg area (southwestern Prince George County) sounds about 212% louder than in eastern Prince George County, a 16.4 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 I-95 do you need to be?
I-95 produces an estimated 76 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 quiet suburban street at night.
At source
76 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
64 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
57 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
51 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
44 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
½ mile
37 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 42% of Prince George County sits under tree canopy (heavier than most counties) and roughly 24% 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 Prince George County. 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 Prince George County
The bar chart below shows the share of Prince George County residents in each noise band. About 67% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 13% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Prince George County Compares
Prince George County sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Prince George County's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Petersburg City, Dinwiddie County, Hopewell City, and Colonial Heights City.
Average noise level (dBA)
Prince George County's 50.3 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Virginia as a whole averages 52.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Prince George County because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 15.8% of Prince George County 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, 23.7% of Prince George County's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Virginia average of 30.0% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Prince George County
- 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 I-95 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 42% of Prince George County is under tree cover (heavier than most counties), 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.
