Noise Levels in University Square, Tampa, FL | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
54 dBA
Average noise across University Square
Quiet office to normal conversation
2,278
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
42% of University Square residents
72 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across University Square 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.
Overall
Road
Rail
Aviation
Click the map to explore
35 dBa55 dBa (EPA limit)90+ dBa
3545557090
Quietest (dBA)Loudest
Colorblind friendlyoff
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 2,278 University Square residents, or 42.0%, live above that level. By land area, 47.7% of University Square is above 55 dBA.
Average noise levels for University Square residents, grouped by direction from the center of University Square. Western University Square carries the highest population-weighted average; Northern University Square carries the lowest. Just 26% of residents in Northern University Square live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in Western University Square.
Central University Square
54.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
56% of people above 55 dBA
QuietLoud
Eastern University Square
52.2 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
29% of people above 55 dBA
QuietLoud
Northern University Square
52.2 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
26% of people above 55 dBA
QuietLoud
Southern University Square
52.8 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
31% of people above 55 dBA
QuietLoud
Western University Square
55.6 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
61% of people above 55 dBA
QuietLoud
Western University Square sounds about 27% louder than Northern University Square to the human ear, a 3.4 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 30 St do you need to be?
30 St 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
47 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
40 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 16% of University Square sits under tree canopy (about average for neighborhoods) and roughly 47% 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
Tampa International (TPA) sits southwest of University Square. 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 University Square, particularly to the northeast, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across University Square
The bar chart below shows the share of University Square residents in each noise band. About 54% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 5% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How University Square Compares
University Square sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how University Square's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Seminole Heights, Cross Fletcher, Wellswood, and Northeast.
Average noise level (dBA)
University Square's 53.7 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Florida as a whole averages 51.6 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than University Square because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 42.0% of University Square 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, 47.7% of University Square's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Florida average of 31.8% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to University Square
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 30 St 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 16% of University Square is under tree cover (about average for 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. Tampa International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the southwest. Neighborhoods to the northeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
Sources & Methodology
The BestNeighborhood noise model is calibrated against nearly one million federal ground-truth measurements across four states. Road noise is computed from segment-level federal traffic data and propagated outward using physics-based acoustic decay, with attenuation rates that depend on the surrounding land cover.
All inputs are published federal datasets. Block-level noise is computed by combining road, rail, and aviation sound sources in the energy domain, the same physics used in professional environmental noise assessments. Read the full methodology.
