Noise Levels in Skunk City, Syracuse, NY | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
56 dBA
Average noise across Skunk City
Quiet office to normal conversation
1,653
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
50% of Skunk City residents
64 dBA
Loudest residential point
Busy restaurant
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Skunk City 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 1,653 Skunk City residents, or 49.9%, live above that level. By land area, 52.2% of Skunk City is above 55 dBA.
47.8% below 55 dBA
52.2% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Skunk City compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Skunk City
Average noise levels for Skunk City residents, grouped by direction from the center of Skunk City. The highest population-weighted average is in eastern Skunk City; the lowest is in western Skunk City, where just 24% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in the loudest section.
Eastern Skunk City
56.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Central Skunk City
55.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Skunk City
53.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in eastern Skunk City sounds about 27% louder than in western Skunk City, a 3.4 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 64 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
64 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
50 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
42 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
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 41% of Skunk City sits under tree canopy (much heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 37% 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.
-->
Airport Noise
Syracuse Hancock International (SYR) sits northeast of Skunk City. 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 55 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Skunk City, particularly to the southwest, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Skunk City
The bar chart below shows the share of Skunk City residents in each noise band. About 38% 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 Skunk City Compares
Skunk City sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Skunk City's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Galeville, Westside, Elmwood, and Downtown Syracuse.
Average noise level (dBA)
Skunk City's 55.5 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. New York as a whole averages 55.4 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Skunk City because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 49.9% of Skunk City 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, 52.2% of Skunk City's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a New York average of 30.9% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Skunk City
- 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 41% of Skunk City is under tree cover (much 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. Syracuse Hancock International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northeast. Neighborhoods to the southwest of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
