This map shows modeled outdoor noise across South Fairmount 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 1,355 South Fairmount residents, or 32.9%, live above that level. By land area, 66.6% of South Fairmount is above 55 dBA.
See how noise in South Fairmount compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of South Fairmount
Average noise levels for South Fairmount residents, grouped by direction from the center of South Fairmount. The highest population-weighted average is in eastern South Fairmount; the lowest is in southeastern South Fairmount, where just 18% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a third of the share in the loudest section.
Eastern South Fairmount
59% of people above 55 dBA
Central South Fairmount
52% of people above 55 dBA
Western South Fairmount
32% of people above 55 dBA
Northwestern South Fairmount
22% of people above 55 dBA
Southeastern South Fairmount
18% of people above 55 dBA
To the human ear, noise in eastern South Fairmount sounds about 54% louder than in southeastern South Fairmount, 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.
Airport Noise
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International (CVG) sits southwest of South Fairmount. 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 South Fairmount, particularly to the northeast, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across South Fairmount
The bar chart below shows the share of South Fairmount residents in each noise band. About 64% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 21% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How South Fairmount Compares
South Fairmount sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how South Fairmount's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with East Westwood, Mount Auburn, Central Business District, and West End.
Average noise level (dBA)
South Fairmount's 53.5 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Ohio as a whole averages 51.1 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than South Fairmount because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 32.9% of South Fairmount 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, 66.6% of South Fairmount's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Ohio average of 26.4% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to South Fairmount
- 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 Queen City Ave 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 59% of South Fairmount is under tree cover (much heavier than most neighborhoods), and the dominant land cover is low-density developed open space. 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. Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the southwest. Neighborhoods to the northeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
Sources & Methodology
The BestNeighborhood noise model is calibrated against nearly one million federal ground-truth measurements across four states. Road noise is computed from segment-level federal traffic data and propagated outward using physics-based acoustic decay, with attenuation rates that depend on the surrounding land cover.
Federal datasets used:
FHWA Highway Performance Monitoring System: road geometry, traffic counts, lane configuration
U.S. DoT Bureau of Transportation Statistics National Transportation Noise Map: aviation and rail noise, road calibration ground truth
USGS / MRLC National Land Cover Database: land cover and impervious surface coverage
USDA Forest Service Tree Canopy Cover: vegetation density for sound propagation
U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line: block-level geography and population
U.S. EPA Levels Document: 55 dBA outdoor reference level
All inputs are published federal datasets. Block-level noise is computed by combining road, rail, and aviation sound sources in the energy domain, the same physics used in professional environmental noise assessments. Read the full methodology.