Noise Levels in St. Simons Island, GA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
47 dBA
Average noise across St. Simons Island
Quiet office
142
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
10% of St. Simons Island residents
72 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across St. Simons Island 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 142 St. Simons Island residents, or 9.6%, live above that level. By land area, 7.3% of St. Simons Island is above 55 dBA.
92.7% below 55 dBA
7.3% above 55 dBA
See how noise in St. Simons Island compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of St. Simons Island
Average noise levels for St. Simons Island residents, grouped by direction from the center of St. Simons Island. Northern St. Simons Island carries the highest population-weighted average; Central St. Simons Island carries the lowest. Just 0% of residents in Central St. Simons Island live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in Northern St. Simons Island.
Central St. Simons Island
35.1 dBA · Quiet
Soft rainfall
Eastern St. Simons Island
46.7 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Northern St. Simons Island
50.1 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
Southern St. Simons Island
46.2 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Western St. Simons Island
43.8 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Northern St. Simons Island sounds about 183% louder than Central St. Simons Island to the human ear, a 15.0 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 Hampton Point Dr; do you need to be?
Hampton Point Dr; produces an estimated 54 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
54 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
165 ft
41 dBA
Soft rainfall
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 50% of St. Simons Island sits under tree canopy (heavier than most cities) and roughly 20% 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 St. Simons Island. 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 St. Simons Island
The bar chart below shows the share of St. Simons Island residents in each noise band. About 98% 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 St. Simons Island Compares
St. Simons Island sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how St. Simons Island's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Waverly, Harrington, Valona, and Spring Bluff.
Average noise level (dBA)
St. Simons Island's 47.0 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. Georgia as a whole averages 51.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than St. Simons Island because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 9.6% of St. Simons Island 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, 7.3% of St. Simons Island's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Georgia average of 22.6% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to St. Simons Island
- 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 Hampton Point Dr; 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 St. Simons Island is under tree cover (heavier than most cities), 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.
