Noise Levels in Urbanizacion El Comandante, Carolina, PR | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
57 dBA
Average noise across Urbanizacion El Comandante
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
2,077
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
62% of Urbanizacion El Comandante residents
76 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Urbanizacion El Comandante 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 2,077 Urbanizacion El Comandante residents, or 61.8%, live above that level. By land area, 67.6% of Urbanizacion El Comandante is above 55 dBA.
32.4% below 55 dBA
67.6% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Urbanizacion El Comandante compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Urbanizacion El Comandante
Average noise levels for Urbanizacion El Comandante residents, grouped by direction from the center of Urbanizacion El Comandante. Eastern Urbanizacion El Comandante carries the highest population-weighted average; Northern Urbanizacion El Comandante carries the lowest. Just 34% of residents in Northern Urbanizacion El Comandante live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in Eastern Urbanizacion El Comandante.
Central Urbanizacion El Comandante
56.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern Urbanizacion El Comandante
59.5 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northern Urbanizacion El Comandante
52.0 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Urbanizacion El Comandante
57.1 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern Urbanizacion El Comandante sounds about 68% louder than Northern Urbanizacion El Comandante to the human ear, a 7.5 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 76 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
76 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
63 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
55 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
47 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
40 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 0% of Urbanizacion El Comandante sits under tree canopy (about average for neighborhoods) and roughly 0% 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
Luis Munoz Marin International (SJU) sits north of Urbanizacion El Comandante. 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 Urbanizacion El Comandante, particularly to the south, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Urbanizacion El Comandante
The bar chart below shows the share of Urbanizacion El Comandante residents in each noise band. About 35% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 22% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Urbanizacion El Comandante Compares
Urbanizacion El Comandante sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how Urbanizacion El Comandante's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Urbanizacion Monte Carlo-San Juan, Villa Prades, Parcelas Hill Brothers, and Embalse San Jose.
Average noise level (dBA)
Urbanizacion El Comandante's 56.9 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. Puerto Rico as a whole averages 52.9 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Urbanizacion El Comandante because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 61.8% of Urbanizacion El Comandante 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, 67.6% of Urbanizacion El Comandante's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Puerto Rico average of 36.1% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Urbanizacion El Comandante
- 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 Urbanizacion El Comandante is under tree cover (about average for neighborhoods), and the dominant land cover is . 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. Luis Munoz Marin International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the north. Neighborhoods to the south of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
