Noise Levels in Tempe Royal Estates, Tempe, AZ | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
53 dBA
Average noise across Tempe Royal Estates
Quiet office to normal conversation
1,331
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
44% of Tempe Royal Estates residents
61 dBA
Loudest residential point
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Tempe Royal Estates 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 1,331 Tempe Royal Estates residents, or 43.7%, live above that level. By land area, 48.1% of Tempe Royal Estates is above 55 dBA.
51.9% below 55 dBA
48.1% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Tempe Royal Estates compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Tempe Royal Estates
Average noise levels for Tempe Royal Estates residents, grouped by direction from the center of Tempe Royal Estates. The highest population-weighted average is in western Tempe Royal Estates; the lowest is in northeastern Tempe Royal Estates, where just 42% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in the loudest section.
Western Tempe Royal Estates
68.1 dBA · Loud
Highway traffic 50 ft away
Central Tempe Royal Estates
55.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Tempe Royal Estates
54.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northeastern Tempe Royal Estates
54.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in western Tempe Royal Estates sounds about 164% louder than in northeastern Tempe Royal Estates, a 14.0 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 do you need to be?
produces an estimated 61 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
61 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
46 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
38 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 0% of Tempe Royal Estates sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 56% 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
Phoenix Sky Harbor International (PHX) sits northwest of Tempe Royal Estates. 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 Tempe Royal Estates, particularly to the southeast, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Tempe Royal Estates
The bar chart below shows the share of Tempe Royal Estates residents in each noise band. About 54% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 1% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Tempe Royal Estates Compares
Tempe Royal Estates sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Tempe Royal Estates's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Tempe Junction, Baseline-Hardy, tempe-cascade-tempe-az, and Sunset.
Average noise level (dBA)
Tempe Royal Estates's 53.4 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Arizona as a whole averages 53.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Tempe Royal Estates because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 43.7% of Tempe Royal Estates 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, 48.1% of Tempe Royal Estates's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Arizona average of 28.3% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Tempe Royal Estates
- 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 0% of Tempe Royal Estates is under tree cover (much 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. Phoenix Sky Harbor International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northwest. Neighborhoods to the southeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
