Noise Levels in Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar, Madison, WI | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
58 dBA
Average noise across Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
3,183
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
86% of Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar residents
68 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar 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 3,183 Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar residents, or 86.0%, live above that level. By land area, 80.8% of Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar is above 55 dBA.
19.2% below 55 dBA
80.8% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar
Average noise levels for Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar residents, grouped by direction from the center of Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar. Northern Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar carries the highest population-weighted average; Southern Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar carries the lowest. Just 75% of residents in Southern Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in Northern Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar.
Central Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar
57.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar
58.9 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northern Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar
60.2 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southern Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar
57.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar
59.4 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northern Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar sounds about 21% louder than Southern Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar to the human ear, a 2.7 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 68 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
68 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
165 ft
54 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
330 ft
46 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
660 ft
37 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 22% of Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar sits under tree canopy (heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 50% 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 Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar. 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
Dane County Regional/Truax Field (MSN) sits north of Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar. 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 50 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar, particularly to the south, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar
The bar chart below shows the share of Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar residents in each noise band. About 6% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 25% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar Compares
Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Sherman, Heistand, South Campus, and McClellan Park.
Average noise level (dBA)
Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar's 58.4 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. Wisconsin as a whole averages 53.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 86.0% of Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's more than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 80.8% of Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Wisconsin average of 29.6% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar
- 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 22% of Schenk-Atwood-Starkweather-Yahar is under tree cover (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. Dane County Regional/Truax Field's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the north. Neighborhoods to the south of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
