Noise Levels in Roosevelt-San Francisco, Redwood City, CA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
53 dBA
Average noise across Roosevelt-San Francisco
Quiet office to normal conversation
3,173
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
40% of Roosevelt-San Francisco residents
60 dBA
Loudest residential point
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Roosevelt-San Francisco 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 3,173 Roosevelt-San Francisco residents, or 39.6%, live above that level. By land area, 44.1% of Roosevelt-San Francisco is above 55 dBA.
55.9% below 55 dBA
44.1% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Roosevelt-San Francisco compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Roosevelt-San Francisco
Average noise levels for Roosevelt-San Francisco residents, grouped by direction from the center of Roosevelt-San Francisco. Eastern Roosevelt-San Francisco carries the highest population-weighted average; Southern Roosevelt-San Francisco carries the lowest. Just 33% of residents in Southern Roosevelt-San Francisco live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in Eastern Roosevelt-San Francisco.
Central Roosevelt-San Francisco
52.6 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Roosevelt-San Francisco
54.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Roosevelt-San Francisco
52.7 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Roosevelt-San Francisco
52.4 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Roosevelt-San Francisco
53.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Roosevelt-San Francisco sounds about 16% louder than Southern Roosevelt-San Francisco to the human ear, a 2.1 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
46 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
38 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 10% of Roosevelt-San Francisco sits under tree canopy (lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 59% 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
San Francisco International (SFO) sits northwest of Roosevelt-San Francisco. 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 75 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Roosevelt-San Francisco, particularly to the southeast, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Roosevelt-San Francisco
The bar chart below shows the share of Roosevelt-San Francisco residents in each noise band. About 66% 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 Roosevelt-San Francisco Compares
Roosevelt-San Francisco sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Roosevelt-San Francisco's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Midtown-San Jose, Baywood-Aragon, Centennial, and East San Mateo.
Average noise level (dBA)
Roosevelt-San Francisco's 53.0 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. California as a whole averages 54.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Roosevelt-San Francisco because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 39.6% of Roosevelt-San Francisco 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, 44.1% of Roosevelt-San Francisco's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a California average of 36.0% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Roosevelt-San Francisco
- 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 10% of Roosevelt-San Francisco 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. San Francisco International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northwest. Neighborhoods to the southeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
