Noise Levels in Roselawn, Brighton, NY | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
54 dBA
Average noise across Roselawn
Quiet office to normal conversation
1,364
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
34% of Roselawn residents
69 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Roselawn 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 1,364 Roselawn residents, or 34.1%, live above that level. By land area, 35.9% of Roselawn is above 55 dBA.
64.1% below 55 dBA
35.9% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Roselawn compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Roselawn
Average noise levels for Roselawn residents, grouped by direction from the center of Roselawn. The highest population-weighted average is in southeastern Roselawn; the lowest is in western Roselawn, where just 19% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a third of the share in the loudest section.
Southeastern Roselawn
68.3 dBA · Loud
Highway traffic 50 ft away
Eastern Roselawn
61.9 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Northwestern Roselawn
54.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southwestern Roselawn
54.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Roselawn
53.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in southeastern Roselawn sounds about 173% louder than in western Roselawn, a 14.5 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 Elmwood Ave do you need to be?
Elmwood Ave produces an estimated 64 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
64 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
52 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
330 ft
45 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
660 ft
38 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 45% of Roselawn sits under tree canopy (much heavier than most neighborhoods) 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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Airport Noise
Frederick Douglass/Greater Rochester International (ROC) sits west of Roselawn. 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 Roselawn, 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 Roselawn
The bar chart below shows the share of Roselawn residents in each noise band. About 55% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 9% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Roselawn Compares
Roselawn sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Roselawn's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Ellwanger-Barry, Strong, Genesee-Jefferson, and Browncroft.
Average noise level (dBA)
Roselawn's 54.4 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. New York as a whole averages 55.4 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Roselawn because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 34.1% of Roselawn 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, 35.9% of Roselawn's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a New York average of 30.9% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Roselawn
- 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 Elmwood Ave 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 45% of Roselawn is under tree cover (much heavier 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. Frederick Douglass/Greater Rochester International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the west. Neighborhoods to the east of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
