Noise Levels in Tennyson-Alquire, Hayward, CA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
58 dBA
Average noise across Tennyson-Alquire
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
7,402
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
63% of Tennyson-Alquire residents
86 dBA
Loudest residential point
Food blender at arm’s length
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Tennyson-Alquire 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 7,402 Tennyson-Alquire residents, or 63.1%, live above that level. By land area, 62.5% of Tennyson-Alquire is above 55 dBA.
37.5% below 55 dBA
62.5% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Tennyson-Alquire compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Tennyson-Alquire
Average noise levels for Tennyson-Alquire residents, grouped by direction from the center of Tennyson-Alquire. The highest population-weighted average is in southwestern Tennyson-Alquire; the lowest is in southeastern Tennyson-Alquire, where just 49% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in the loudest section.
Southwestern Tennyson-Alquire
72.3 dBA · Loud
City bus interior
Western Tennyson-Alquire
68.8 dBA · Loud
Highway traffic 50 ft away
Central Tennyson-Alquire
57.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern Tennyson-Alquire
55.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southeastern Tennyson-Alquire
54.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in southwestern Tennyson-Alquire sounds about 234% louder than in southeastern Tennyson-Alquire, a 17.4 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 Nimitz Fwy do you need to be?
Nimitz Fwy produces an estimated 80 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 quiet suburban street at night.
At source
80 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
66 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
330 ft
58 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
50 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
42 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 2% of Tennyson-Alquire sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 62% 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 Tennyson-Alquire. 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
San Francisco Bay Oakland International (OAK) sits northwest of Tennyson-Alquire. 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 45 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Tennyson-Alquire, 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 Tennyson-Alquire
The bar chart below shows the share of Tennyson-Alquire residents in each noise band. About 32% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 19% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Tennyson-Alquire Compares
Tennyson-Alquire sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how Tennyson-Alquire's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Jackson Triangle, Glen Eden, Mission-Garin, and North Hayward.
Average noise level (dBA)
Tennyson-Alquire's 57.8 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 Tennyson-Alquire because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 63.1% of Tennyson-Alquire residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's more than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 62.5% of Tennyson-Alquire'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 Tennyson-Alquire
- 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 Nimitz Fwy 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 2% of Tennyson-Alquire 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. San Francisco Bay Oakland International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northwest. Neighborhoods to the southeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
