Noise Levels in Ravenswood Gardens, Chicago, IL | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
54 dBA
Average noise across Ravenswood Gardens
Quiet office to normal conversation
600
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
27% of Ravenswood Gardens residents
60 dBA
Loudest residential point
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Ravenswood Gardens 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 600 Ravenswood Gardens residents, or 27.1%, live above that level. By land area, 21.8% of Ravenswood Gardens is above 55 dBA.
78.2% below 55 dBA
21.8% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Ravenswood Gardens compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Ravenswood Gardens
Average noise levels for Ravenswood Gardens residents, grouped by direction from the center of Ravenswood Gardens. The highest population-weighted average is in northwestern Ravenswood Gardens; the lowest is in central Ravenswood Gardens, where just 21% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in the loudest section.
Northwestern Ravenswood Gardens
55.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Ravenswood Gardens
55.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Central Ravenswood Gardens
53.6 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in northwestern Ravenswood Gardens sounds about 10% louder than in central Ravenswood Gardens, a 1.4 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 60 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
60 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
47 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
39 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 6% of Ravenswood Gardens sits under tree canopy (lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 70% 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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Airport Noise
Chicago O'Hare International (ORD) sits west of Ravenswood Gardens. The U.S. Department of Transportation measures aviation noise around this airport directly, 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 50 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Ravenswood Gardens, particularly to the east, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Ravenswood Gardens
The bar chart below shows the share of Ravenswood Gardens residents in each noise band. About 74% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 0% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Ravenswood Gardens Compares
Ravenswood Gardens sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Ravenswood Gardens's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Hamlin Park, Beat 2535, Schorsch, and North Mayfair.
Average noise level (dBA)
Ravenswood Gardens's 53.8 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Illinois as a whole averages 52.6 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Ravenswood Gardens because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 27.1% of Ravenswood Gardens 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, 21.8% of Ravenswood Gardens's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Illinois average of 29.2% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Ravenswood Gardens
- 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 6% of Ravenswood Gardens is under tree cover (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. Chicago O'Hare International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the west. Neighborhoods to the east of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
