Noise Levels in St Marys Park, San Francisco, CA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
58 dBA
Average noise across St Marys Park
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
8,582
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
66% of St Marys Park residents
82 dBA
Loudest residential point
Food blender at arm’s length
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across St Marys Park 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 8,582 St Marys Park residents, or 66.0%, live above that level. By land area, 68.8% of St Marys Park is above 55 dBA.
31.2% below 55 dBA
68.8% above 55 dBA
See how noise in St Marys Park compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of St Marys Park
Average noise levels for St Marys Park residents, grouped by direction from the center of St Marys Park. The highest population-weighted average is in northwestern St Marys Park; the lowest is in southeastern St Marys Park, where just 36% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in the loudest section.
Northwestern St Marys Park
72.6 dBA · Loud
City bus interior
Northeastern St Marys Park
71.0 dBA · Loud
Highway traffic 50 ft away
Central St Marys Park
63.0 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Southern St Marys Park
53.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southeastern St Marys Park
53.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in northwestern St Marys Park sounds about 289% louder than in southeastern St Marys Park, a 19.6 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 I-280 do you need to be?
I-280 produces an estimated 78 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
78 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
64 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
56 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
48 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
40 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 5% of St Marys Park sits under tree canopy (lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 66% 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
San Francisco International (SFO) sits south of St Marys Park. 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 St Marys Park, particularly to the north, 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 Marys Park
The bar chart below shows the share of St Marys Park residents in each noise band. About 37% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 28% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How St Marys Park Compares
St Marys Park sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how St Marys Park's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Bernal Heights, Haight-Ashbury, West of Twin Peaks, and Crocker Amazon.
Average noise level (dBA)
St Marys Park's 58.3 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. California as a whole averages 54.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than St Marys Park because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 66.0% of St Marys Park 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, 68.8% of St Marys Park's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a California average of 36.0% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to St Marys Park
- 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 I-280 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 5% of St Marys Park is under tree cover (lighter than most 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. San Francisco International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the south. Neighborhoods to the north of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
