Noise Levels in Runaway Bay, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
47 dBA
Average noise across Runaway Bay
Quiet office
284
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
10% of Runaway Bay residents
77 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Runaway Bay 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 284 Runaway Bay residents, or 9.7%, live above that level. By land area, 10.7% of Runaway Bay is above 55 dBA.
89.3% below 55 dBA
10.7% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Runaway Bay compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Runaway Bay
Average noise levels for Runaway Bay residents, grouped by direction from the center of Runaway Bay. The highest population-weighted average is in western Runaway Bay; the lowest is in northeastern Runaway Bay, where just 0% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
Western Runaway Bay
50.1 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
Eastern Runaway Bay
48.5 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Northeastern Runaway Bay
41.9 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
To the human ear, noise in western Runaway Bay sounds about 77% louder than in northeastern Runaway Bay, a 8.2 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-35 do you need to be?
I-35 produces an estimated 55 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
55 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
165 ft
42 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
330 ft
35 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 15% of Runaway Bay sits under tree canopy (lighter than most cities) and roughly 10% 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 Runaway Bay. 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 Runaway Bay
The bar chart below shows the share of Runaway Bay residents in each noise band. About 81% 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 Runaway Bay Compares
Runaway Bay sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Runaway Bay's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Newark, Chico, Alvord, and New Fairview.
Average noise level (dBA)
Runaway Bay's 46.6 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 Runaway Bay because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 9.7% of Runaway Bay 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, 10.7% of Runaway Bay'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 Runaway Bay
- 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-35 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 15% of Runaway Bay is under tree cover (lighter than most cities), and the dominant land cover is grassland. 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.
