Noise Levels in The Plot, Scranton, PA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
57 dBA
Average noise across The Plot
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
1,739
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
46% of The Plot residents
77 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across The Plot 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 1,739 The Plot residents, or 46.3%, live above that level. By land area, 56.3% of The Plot is above 55 dBA.
43.7% below 55 dBA
56.3% above 55 dBA
See how noise in The Plot compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of The Plot
Average noise levels for The Plot residents, grouped by direction from the center of The Plot. The highest population-weighted average is in eastern The Plot; the lowest is in northwestern The Plot, where just 59% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in the loudest section.
Eastern The Plot
62.9 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Central The Plot
60.7 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southwestern The Plot
60.6 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western The Plot
60.6 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northwestern The Plot
59.9 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
To the human ear, noise in eastern The Plot sounds about 23% louder than in northwestern The Plot, a 3.0 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 77 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
77 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
63 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
55 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
46 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
38 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 28% of The Plot sits under tree canopy (heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 48% 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 The Plot. 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 The Plot
The bar chart below shows the share of The Plot residents in each noise band. About 34% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 30% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How The Plot Compares
The Plot sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how The Plot's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with The Hill Section, Downtown, Providence, and Green Ridge.
Average noise level (dBA)
The Plot's 56.7 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Pennsylvania as a whole averages 52.9 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than The Plot because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 46.3% of The Plot residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's fewer than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 56.3% of The Plot's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Pennsylvania average of 33.5% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to The Plot
- 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 28% of The Plot is under tree cover (heavier 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.
