Noise Levels in St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood, Indianapolis, IN | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
61 dBA
Average noise across St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
1,328
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
85% of St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood residents
72 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood 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 1,328 St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood residents, or 85.2%, live above that level. By land area, 93.1% of St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood is above 55 dBA.
6.9% below 55 dBA
93.1% above 55 dBA
See how noise in St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood
Average noise levels for St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood residents, grouped by direction from the center of St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood. Northern St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood carries the highest population-weighted average; Central St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood carries the lowest. Just 78% of residents in Central St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in Northern St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood.
Central St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood
59.6 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood
62.3 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Northern St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood
63.3 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Southern St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood
61.3 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Northern St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood sounds about 29% louder than Central St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood to the human ear, a 3.7 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 do you need to be?
produces an estimated 72 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
72 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
57 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
48 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
40 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 2% of St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 86% 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
Indianapolis International (IND) sits southwest of St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood. 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 St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood, 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 St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood
The bar chart below shows the share of St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood residents in each noise band. About 9% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 55% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood Compares
St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with bates-hendricks-indianapolis-in, babe-denny-indianapolis-in, old-northside-indianapolis-in, and fall-creek-place-indianapolis-in.
Average noise level (dBA)
St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood's 60.6 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Indiana as a whole averages 53.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 85.2% of St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood 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, 93.1% of St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Indiana average of 37.8% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood
- 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 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 2% of St. Joseph Historic Neighborhood is under tree cover (much lighter than most neighborhoods), and the dominant land cover is high-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. Indianapolis International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the southwest. Neighborhoods to the northeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
