Noise Levels in Versailles, PA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
58 dBA
Average noise across Versailles
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
590
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
54% of Versailles residents
79 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Versailles 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 590 Versailles residents, or 53.9%, live above that level. By land area, 70.1% of Versailles is above 55 dBA.
29.9% below 55 dBA
70.1% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Versailles compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Versailles
Average noise levels for Versailles residents, grouped by direction from the center of Versailles. Western Versailles carries the highest population-weighted average; Northern Versailles carries the lowest. Just 0% of residents in Northern Versailles live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in Western Versailles.
Central Versailles
58.8 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern Versailles
52.0 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Versailles
50.6 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
Southern Versailles
61.6 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Western Versailles
61.9 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Western Versailles sounds about 119% louder than Northern Versailles to the human ear, a 11.3 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 79 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
79 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
67 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
330 ft
59 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
52 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
¼ mile
45 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
½ mile
38 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 30% of Versailles sits under tree canopy (about average for cities) and roughly 43% 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 Versailles. 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 Versailles
The bar chart below shows the share of Versailles residents in each noise band. About 35% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 35% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Versailles Compares
Versailles sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Versailles's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Buena Vista, Lincoln, Braddock, and Wilmerding.
Average noise level (dBA)
Versailles's 57.5 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 Versailles because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 53.9% of Versailles 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, 70.1% of Versailles'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 Versailles
- 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 30% of Versailles is under tree cover (about average for cities), 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.
