Noise Levels in Seven Bar Ranch, Albuquerque, NM | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
56 dBA
Average noise across Seven Bar Ranch
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
1,478
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
32% of Seven Bar Ranch residents
72 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Seven Bar Ranch 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 1,478 Seven Bar Ranch residents, or 32.2%, live above that level. By land area, 30.0% of Seven Bar Ranch is above 55 dBA.
70.0% below 55 dBA
30.0% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Seven Bar Ranch compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Seven Bar Ranch
Average noise levels for Seven Bar Ranch residents, grouped by direction from the center of Seven Bar Ranch. The highest population-weighted average is in central Seven Bar Ranch; the lowest is in northwestern Seven Bar Ranch, where just 36% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in the loudest section.
Central Seven Bar Ranch
60.8 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern Seven Bar Ranch
60.0 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western Seven Bar Ranch
59.8 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southeastern Seven Bar Ranch
56.4 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northwestern Seven Bar Ranch
55.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in central Seven Bar Ranch sounds about 47% louder than in northwestern Seven Bar Ranch, a 5.6 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 72 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
72 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
58 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
50 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
42 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 9% of Seven Bar Ranch sits under tree canopy (lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 60% 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
Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ) sits south of Seven Bar Ranch. 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 Seven Bar Ranch, particularly to the north, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Seven Bar Ranch
The bar chart below shows the share of Seven Bar Ranch residents in each noise band. About 55% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 32% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Seven Bar Ranch Compares
Seven Bar Ranch sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how Seven Bar Ranch's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Skies West, Rio Grande, Alban Hills, and North Wyoming.
Average noise level (dBA)
Seven Bar Ranch's 56.4 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. New Mexico as a whole averages 51.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Seven Bar Ranch because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 32.2% of Seven Bar Ranch 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, 30.0% of Seven Bar Ranch's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a New Mexico average of 19.5% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Seven Bar Ranch
- 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 9% of Seven Bar Ranch 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. Albuquerque International Sunport's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the south. Neighborhoods to the north of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
