Noise Levels in Sylvan Park, Nashville, TN | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map

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 1,118 Sylvan Park residents, or 36.5%, live above that level. By land area, 45.8% of Sylvan Park is above 55 dBA.

See how noise in Sylvan Park compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.

Noise by Part of Sylvan Park

Average noise levels for Sylvan Park residents, grouped by direction from the center of Sylvan Park. The highest population-weighted average is in southwestern Sylvan Park; the lowest is in eastern Sylvan Park, where just 32% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in the loudest section.

To the human ear, noise in southwestern Sylvan Park sounds about 49% louder than in eastern Sylvan Park, a 5.8 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.

Rail Noise

Active freight rail runs through parts of Sylvan Park. 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.

Airport Noise

Nashville International (BNA) sits east of Sylvan 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 Sylvan Park, particularly to the west, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.

How Noise Is Distributed Across Sylvan Park

The bar chart below shows the share of Sylvan Park residents in each noise band. About 42% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 22% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.

How Sylvan Park Compares

Sylvan Park sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Sylvan Park's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Germantown, The Gulch, hadley-park-nashville-tn, and Southside.

Average noise level (dBA)

Sylvan Park's 55.0 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Tennessee as a whole averages 49.2 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Sylvan Park because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.

Share of residents above 55 dBA

About 36.5% of Sylvan 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, 45.8% of Sylvan Park's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Tennessee average of 18.7% and a national average of 28.1%.

What This Means if You're Moving to Sylvan 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 F253 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 30% of Sylvan Park is under tree cover (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. Nashville International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the east. Neighborhoods to the west of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.

Sources & Methodology