Noise Levels in Sherwood-Tualatin North, Sherwood, OR | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
55 dBA
Average noise across Sherwood-Tualatin North
Quiet office to normal conversation
4,008
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
38% of Sherwood-Tualatin North residents
76 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Sherwood-Tualatin North 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 4,008 Sherwood-Tualatin North residents, or 38.0%, live above that level. By land area, 40.2% of Sherwood-Tualatin North is above 55 dBA.
59.8% below 55 dBA
40.2% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Sherwood-Tualatin North compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Sherwood-Tualatin North
Average noise levels for Sherwood-Tualatin North residents, grouped by direction from the center of Sherwood-Tualatin North. Northern Sherwood-Tualatin North carries the highest population-weighted average; Central Sherwood-Tualatin North carries the lowest. Just 28% of residents in Central Sherwood-Tualatin North live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in Northern Sherwood-Tualatin North.
Central Sherwood-Tualatin North
52.5 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Sherwood-Tualatin North
55.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Sherwood-Tualatin North
61.1 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Southern Sherwood-Tualatin North
54.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Sherwood-Tualatin North
53.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Sherwood-Tualatin North sounds about 82% louder than Central Sherwood-Tualatin North to the human ear, a 8.6 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 Oregon Route 99W do you need to be?
Oregon Route 99W produces an estimated 67 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
67 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
165 ft
54 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
330 ft
47 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
39 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 26% of Sherwood-Tualatin North sits under tree canopy (heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 42% 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 Sherwood-Tualatin North. 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 Sherwood-Tualatin North
The bar chart below shows the share of Sherwood-Tualatin North residents in each noise band. About 57% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 8% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Sherwood-Tualatin North Compares
Sherwood-Tualatin North sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how Sherwood-Tualatin North's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Sexton Mountain, Neighbors Southwest, West Beaverton, and Five Oaks.
Average noise level (dBA)
Sherwood-Tualatin North's 54.7 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. Oregon as a whole averages 52.9 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Sherwood-Tualatin North because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 38.0% of Sherwood-Tualatin North 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, 40.2% of Sherwood-Tualatin North's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Oregon average of 24.2% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Sherwood-Tualatin North
- 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 Oregon Route 99W 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 26% of Sherwood-Tualatin North is under tree cover (heavier 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.
