Noise Levels in Side Hill, Fort Collins, CO | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
49 dBA
Average noise across Side Hill
Quiet office
1,008
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
22% of Side Hill residents
66 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Side Hill 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 1,008 Side Hill residents, or 21.6%, live above that level. By land area, 28.4% of Side Hill is above 55 dBA.
71.6% below 55 dBA
28.4% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Side Hill compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Side Hill
Average noise levels for Side Hill residents, grouped by direction from the center of Side Hill. The highest population-weighted average is in central Side Hill; the lowest is in northeastern Side Hill, where just 6% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a third of the share in the loudest section.
Central Side Hill
55.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northwestern Side Hill
55.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southeastern Side Hill
52.9 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Side Hill
52.5 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northeastern Side Hill
49.1 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
To the human ear, noise in central Side Hill sounds about 54% louder than in northeastern Side Hill, 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 66 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
66 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
165 ft
52 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
330 ft
45 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 2% of Side Hill sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 65% 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 Side Hill. 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 Side Hill
The bar chart below shows the share of Side Hill residents in each noise band. About 89% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 5% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Side Hill Compares
Side Hill sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Side Hill's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Prospect-Shields, Troutman Park, Fairway Estates, and University North.
Average noise level (dBA)
Side Hill's 48.9 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Colorado as a whole averages 51.9 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Side Hill because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 21.6% of Side Hill 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, 28.4% of Side Hill's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Colorado average of 25.4% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Side Hill
- 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 2% of Side Hill is under tree cover (much 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.
