Noise Levels in Southeastern Hills, Lexington, KY | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
52 dBA
Average noise across Southeastern Hills
Quiet office to normal conversation
2,806
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
26% of Southeastern Hills residents
67 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Southeastern Hills 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 2,806 Southeastern Hills residents, or 26.2%, live above that level. By land area, 33.3% of Southeastern Hills is above 55 dBA.
66.7% below 55 dBA
33.3% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Southeastern Hills compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Southeastern Hills
Average noise levels for Southeastern Hills residents, grouped by direction from the center of Southeastern Hills. The highest population-weighted average is in northeastern Southeastern Hills; the lowest is in southeastern Southeastern Hills, where just 14% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in the loudest section.
Northeastern Southeastern Hills
56.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Central Southeastern Hills
55.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northwestern Southeastern Hills
53.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Southeastern Hills
51.9 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southeastern Southeastern Hills
50.1 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
To the human ear, noise in northeastern Southeastern Hills sounds about 53% louder than in southeastern Southeastern Hills, a 6.1 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 Man O War Blvd do you need to be?
Man O War Blvd produces an estimated 66 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
66 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
52 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
330 ft
45 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
660 ft
37 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 15% of Southeastern Hills sits under tree canopy (about average for neighborhoods) and roughly 45% 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
Blue Grass (LEX) sits northwest of Southeastern Hills. 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 Southeastern Hills, particularly to the southeast, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Southeastern Hills
The bar chart below shows the share of Southeastern Hills residents in each noise band. About 84% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 2% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Southeastern Hills Compares
Southeastern Hills sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Southeastern Hills's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Idle Hour, Reservorir, Indian Hills-Stonewall Estates-Monticello, and Liberty Area.
Average noise level (dBA)
Southeastern Hills's 52.5 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Kentucky as a whole averages 50.5 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Southeastern Hills because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 26.2% of Southeastern Hills 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, 33.3% of Southeastern Hills's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Kentucky average of 23.2% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Southeastern Hills
- 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 Man O War Blvd 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 15% of Southeastern Hills is under tree cover (about average for neighborhoods), and the dominant land cover is medium-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. Blue Grass's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northwest. Neighborhoods to the southeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
