Noise Levels in Sunset Village, Madison, WI | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
55 dBA
Average noise across Sunset Village
Quiet office to normal conversation
1,291
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
38% of Sunset Village residents
63 dBA
Loudest residential point
Busy restaurant
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Sunset Village 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 1,291 Sunset Village residents, or 38.5%, live above that level. By land area, 36.2% of Sunset Village is above 55 dBA.
63.8% below 55 dBA
36.2% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Sunset Village compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Sunset Village
Average noise levels for Sunset Village residents, grouped by direction from the center of Sunset Village. The highest population-weighted average is in northern Sunset Village; the lowest is in southeastern Sunset Village, where just 23% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in the loudest section.
Northern Sunset Village
56.6 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northeastern Sunset Village
56.6 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Central Sunset Village
55.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Sunset Village
54.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southeastern Sunset Village
53.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in northern Sunset Village sounds about 21% louder than in southeastern Sunset Village, a 2.8 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 63 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
63 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
50 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
42 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
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 39% of Sunset Village sits under tree canopy (much heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 32% 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
Dane County Regional/Truax Field (MSN) sits northeast of Sunset Village. 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 Sunset Village, particularly to the southwest, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Sunset Village
The bar chart below shows the share of Sunset Village residents in each noise band. About 52% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 3% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Sunset Village Compares
Sunset Village sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Sunset Village's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Midvale Heights, Wexford, Dudgeon-Monroe, and South Campus.
Average noise level (dBA)
Sunset Village's 54.7 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Wisconsin as a whole averages 53.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Sunset Village because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 38.5% of Sunset Village 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, 36.2% of Sunset Village's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Wisconsin average of 29.6% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Sunset Village
- 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 39% of Sunset Village is under tree cover (much heavier than most neighborhoods), 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.
- Airport noise is directional. Dane County Regional/Truax Field's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northeast. Neighborhoods to the southwest of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
