Noise Levels in Scenic Foothills, Anchorage, AK | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
50 dBA
Average noise across Scenic Foothills
Quiet office
655
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
23% of Scenic Foothills residents
57 dBA
Loudest residential point
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Scenic Foothills 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 655 Scenic Foothills residents, or 23.3%, live above that level. By land area, 28.8% of Scenic Foothills is above 55 dBA.
71.2% below 55 dBA
28.8% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Scenic Foothills compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Scenic Foothills
Average noise levels for Scenic Foothills residents, grouped by direction from the center of Scenic Foothills. The highest population-weighted average is in eastern Scenic Foothills; the lowest is in western Scenic Foothills, where just 3% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
Eastern Scenic Foothills
53.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Central Scenic Foothills
51.9 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northwestern Scenic Foothills
51.0 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
Southwestern Scenic Foothills
49.8 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Western Scenic Foothills
47.3 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
To the human ear, noise in eastern Scenic Foothills sounds about 54% louder than in western Scenic Foothills, a 6.2 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 do you need to be?
produces an estimated 57 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
57 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
44 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
330 ft
37 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 0% of Scenic Foothills sits under tree canopy (about average for neighborhoods) and roughly 0% 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
Ted Stevens Anchorage International (ANC) sits west of Scenic Foothills. 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 65 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Scenic Foothills, 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 Scenic Foothills
The bar chart below shows the share of Scenic Foothills residents in each noise band. About 79% 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 Scenic Foothills Compares
Scenic Foothills sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Scenic Foothills's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Campbell Park, University Area, Mid-Hillside, and Turnagain.
Average noise level (dBA)
Scenic Foothills's 50.5 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Alaska as a whole averages 46.7 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Scenic Foothills because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 23.3% of Scenic Foothills 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, 28.8% of Scenic Foothills's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Alaska average of 11.4% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Scenic Foothills
- 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 0% of Scenic Foothills is under tree cover (about average for neighborhoods), and the dominant land cover is . 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. Ted Stevens Anchorage International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the west. Neighborhoods to the east of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
