Noise Levels in South Westside, Olympia, WA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
51 dBA
Average noise across South Westside
Quiet office
859
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
16% of South Westside residents
79 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across South Westside 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 859 South Westside residents, or 16.1%, live above that level. By land area, 24.9% of South Westside is above 55 dBA.
75.1% below 55 dBA
24.9% above 55 dBA
See how noise in South Westside compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of South Westside
Average noise levels for South Westside residents, grouped by direction from the center of South Westside. The highest population-weighted average is in southeastern South Westside; the lowest is in northeastern South Westside, where just 25% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in the loudest section.
Southeastern South Westside
67.9 dBA · Loud
Highway traffic 50 ft away
Southwestern South Westside
65.0 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Central South Westside
56.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northern South Westside
54.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northeastern South Westside
53.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in southeastern South Westside sounds about 179% louder than in northeastern South Westside, a 14.8 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 Deschutes Pkwy SW do you need to be?
Deschutes Pkwy SW produces an estimated 55 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
55 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
165 ft
43 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
330 ft
35 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 38% of South Westside sits under tree canopy (much heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 44% 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 Westside. 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 Westside
The bar chart below shows the share of South Westside residents in each noise band. About 81% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 4% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How South Westside Compares
South Westside sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how South Westside's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with North East, downtown-olympia-olympia-wa, eastside-olympia-wa, and Frederickson.
Average noise level (dBA)
South Westside's 50.7 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Washington as a whole averages 51.3 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than South Westside because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 16.1% of South Westside 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, 24.9% of South Westside's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Washington average of 27.7% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to South Westside
- 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 Deschutes Pkwy SW 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 38% of South Westside 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.
