Noise Levels in Thunderbird Hills, San Antonio, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
55 dBA
Average noise across Thunderbird Hills
Quiet office to normal conversation
4,024
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
52% of Thunderbird Hills residents
83 dBA
Loudest residential point
Food blender at arm’s length
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Thunderbird Hills 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 4,024 Thunderbird Hills residents, or 51.7%, live above that level. By land area, 50.0% of Thunderbird Hills is above 55 dBA.
50.0% below 55 dBA
50.0% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Thunderbird Hills compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Thunderbird Hills
Average noise levels for Thunderbird Hills residents, grouped by direction from the center of Thunderbird Hills. The highest population-weighted average is in northern Thunderbird Hills; the lowest is in eastern Thunderbird Hills, where just 20% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a third of the share in the loudest section.
Northern Thunderbird Hills
66.5 dBA · Loud
Highway traffic 50 ft away
Northwestern Thunderbird Hills
57.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southwestern Thunderbird Hills
56.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southeastern Thunderbird Hills
55.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Thunderbird Hills
52.1 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in northern Thunderbird Hills sounds about 171% louder than in eastern Thunderbird Hills, a 14.4 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 I-410 do you need to be?
I-410 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
Busy restaurant
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 9% of Thunderbird Hills sits under tree canopy (lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 50% 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.
-->
Airport Noise
San Antonio International (SAT) sits northeast of Thunderbird Hills. 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 65 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Thunderbird Hills, 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 Thunderbird Hills
The bar chart below shows the share of Thunderbird Hills residents in each noise band. About 38% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 6% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Thunderbird Hills Compares
Thunderbird Hills sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how Thunderbird Hills's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Prospect Hill, Northwest Crossing, Villages of Westcreek, and Alamo Farmsteads-Babcock Road.
Average noise level (dBA)
Thunderbird Hills's 54.6 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Thunderbird Hills because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 51.7% of Thunderbird Hills 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, 50.0% of Thunderbird Hills's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Texas average of 22.8% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Thunderbird Hills
- 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 I-410 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 9% of Thunderbird Hills is under tree cover (lighter 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. San Antonio International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northeast. Neighborhoods to the southwest of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
