Noise Levels in Quanah, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
50 dBA
Average noise across Quanah
Quiet office
301
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
27% of Quanah residents
98 dBA
Loudest residential point
Power saw
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Quanah 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 301 Quanah residents, or 27.4%, live above that level. By land area, 25.6% of Quanah is above 55 dBA.
74.4% below 55 dBA
25.6% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Quanah compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Quanah
Average noise levels for Quanah residents, grouped by direction from the center of Quanah. The highest population-weighted average is in central Quanah; the lowest is in southeastern Quanah, where just 25% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in the loudest section.
Central Quanah
58.3 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern Quanah
56.6 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southern Quanah
56.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southeastern Quanah
55.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in central Quanah sounds about 18% louder than in southeastern Quanah, a 2.4 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 do you need to be?
produces an estimated 98 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 normal conversation an arm’s length away.
At source
98 dBA
Power saw
165 ft
84 dBA
Food blender at arm’s length
330 ft
75 dBA
City bus interior
660 ft
67 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
¼ mile
59 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
½ mile
50 dBA
Quiet office
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 0% of Quanah sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most cities) and roughly 32% 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 Quanah. 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 Quanah
The bar chart below shows the share of Quanah residents in each noise band. About 69% 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 Quanah Compares
Quanah sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Quanah's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Lockett, Crowell, Childress, and Electra.
Average noise level (dBA)
Quanah's 50.1 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Quanah because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 27.4% of Quanah 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, 25.6% of Quanah's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Texas average of 22.8% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Quanah
- 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 0% of Quanah is under tree cover (much lighter than most cities), 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.
