Noise Levels in Southeast Ridgewood, Ridgewood, NJ | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
50 dBA
Average noise across Southeast Ridgewood
Quiet office
729
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
17% of Southeast Ridgewood residents
67 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Southeast Ridgewood 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 729 Southeast Ridgewood residents, or 17.3%, live above that level. By land area, 15.4% of Southeast Ridgewood is above 55 dBA.
84.6% below 55 dBA
15.4% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Southeast Ridgewood compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Southeast Ridgewood
Average noise levels for Southeast Ridgewood residents, grouped by direction from the center of Southeast Ridgewood. The highest population-weighted average is in northern Southeast Ridgewood; the lowest is in southern Southeast Ridgewood, where just 5% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
Northern Southeast Ridgewood
60.5 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northeastern Southeast Ridgewood
58.3 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Central Southeast Ridgewood
51.2 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southwestern Southeast Ridgewood
50.2 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
Southern Southeast Ridgewood
40.8 dBA · Quiet
Soft rainfall
To the human ear, noise in northern Southeast Ridgewood sounds about 292% louder than in southern Southeast Ridgewood, a 19.7 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 S Van Dien Ave do you need to be?
S Van Dien Ave produces an estimated 58 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
58 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
44 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
330 ft
36 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 Southeast Ridgewood sits under tree canopy (much heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 18% 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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Airport Noise
Laguardia (LGA) sits southeast of Southeast Ridgewood. The U.S. Department of Transportation measures aviation noise around this airport directly, 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 75 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Southeast Ridgewood, particularly to the northwest, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Southeast Ridgewood
The bar chart below shows the share of Southeast Ridgewood residents in each noise band. About 78% 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 Southeast Ridgewood Compares
Southeast Ridgewood sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Southeast Ridgewood's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Downtown Ridgewood, Northwest Ridgewood, Queen Anne Park, and Ridgewood Junction.
Average noise level (dBA)
Southeast Ridgewood's 49.7 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. New Jersey as a whole averages 49.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Southeast Ridgewood because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 17.3% of Southeast Ridgewood residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's fewer than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 15.4% of Southeast Ridgewood's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a New Jersey average of 25.2% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Southeast Ridgewood
- 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 S Van Dien 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 50% of Southeast Ridgewood 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. Laguardia's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the southeast. Neighborhoods to the northwest of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
