Noise Levels in South Roanoke, Roanoke, VA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
53 dBA
Average noise across South Roanoke
Quiet office to normal conversation
934
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
31% of South Roanoke residents
79 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across South Roanoke 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 934 South Roanoke residents, or 31.4%, live above that level. By land area, 45.8% of South Roanoke is above 55 dBA.
54.2% below 55 dBA
45.8% above 55 dBA
See how noise in South Roanoke compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of South Roanoke
Average noise levels for South Roanoke residents, grouped by direction from the center of South Roanoke. The highest population-weighted average is in southwestern South Roanoke; the lowest is in southeastern South Roanoke, where just 14% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in the loudest section.
Southwestern South Roanoke
58.2 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern South Roanoke
56.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Central South Roanoke
56.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern South Roanoke
55.6 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southeastern South Roanoke
53.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in southwestern South Roanoke sounds about 39% louder than in southeastern South Roanoke, a 4.7 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 Yellow Mountain Rd SE do you need to be?
Yellow Mountain Rd SE produces an estimated 57 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
57 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
45 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
330 ft
38 dBA
Soft rainfall
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 50% of South Roanoke sits under tree canopy (much heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 22% 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 South Roanoke. 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 South Roanoke
The bar chart below shows the share of South Roanoke residents in each noise band. About 72% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 1% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How South Roanoke Compares
South Roanoke sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how South Roanoke's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Colonial Avenue Area, deyerle-roanoke-va, garden-city-roanoke-va, and Williamson Road.
Average noise level (dBA)
South Roanoke's 52.7 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Virginia as a whole averages 52.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than South Roanoke because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 31.4% of South Roanoke 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, 45.8% of South Roanoke's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Virginia average of 30.0% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to South Roanoke
- 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 Yellow Mountain Rd SE 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 50% of South Roanoke 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.
