Noise Levels in Rockwood, Oklahoma City, OK | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
62 dBA
Average noise across Rockwood
Busy restaurant
2,337
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
76% of Rockwood residents
82 dBA
Loudest residential point
Food blender at arm’s length
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Rockwood 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 2,337 Rockwood residents, or 76.1%, live above that level. By land area, 80.6% of Rockwood is above 55 dBA.
19.4% below 55 dBA
80.6% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Rockwood compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Rockwood
Average noise levels for Rockwood residents, grouped by direction from the center of Rockwood. The highest population-weighted average is in northeastern Rockwood; the lowest is in southwestern Rockwood, where just 77% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in the loudest section.
Northeastern Rockwood
69.0 dBA · Loud
Highway traffic 50 ft away
Southeastern Rockwood
69.0 dBA · Loud
Highway traffic 50 ft away
Central Rockwood
65.6 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Southwestern Rockwood
64.6 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
To the human ear, noise in northeastern Rockwood sounds about 36% louder than in southwestern Rockwood, a 4.4 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-044 do you need to be?
I-044 produces an estimated 77 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
77 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
64 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
57 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
50 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
43 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
½ mile
36 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 4% of Rockwood sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 41% 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 Rockwood. 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.
Airport Noise
Okc Will Rogers International (OKC) sits southwest of Rockwood. The U.S. Department of Transportation models aviation noise around this airport from federal traffic data, 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 55 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Rockwood, particularly to the northeast, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Rockwood
The bar chart below shows the share of Rockwood residents in each noise band. About 11% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 64% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Rockwood Compares
Rockwood sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how Rockwood's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with heronville-oklahoma-city-ok, South Walker, West 10th, and shields-davis-oklahoma-city-ok.
Average noise level (dBA)
Rockwood's 62.0 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. Oklahoma as a whole averages 50.5 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Rockwood because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 76.1% of Rockwood 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, 80.6% of Rockwood's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Oklahoma average of 22.7% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Rockwood
- 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-044 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 4% of Rockwood is under tree cover (much lighter than most neighborhoods), 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.
- Airport noise is directional. Okc Will Rogers International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the southwest. Neighborhoods to the northeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
