Noise Levels in Virginia-Highland, Atlanta, GA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
54 dBA
Average noise across Virginia-Highland
Quiet office to normal conversation
5,117
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
36% of Virginia-Highland residents
65 dBA
Loudest residential point
Busy restaurant
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Virginia-Highland 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 5,117 Virginia-Highland residents, or 35.5%, live above that level. By land area, 37.1% of Virginia-Highland is above 55 dBA.
62.9% below 55 dBA
37.1% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Virginia-Highland compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Virginia-Highland
Average noise levels for Virginia-Highland residents, grouped by direction from the center of Virginia-Highland. Central Virginia-Highland carries the highest population-weighted average; Eastern Virginia-Highland carries the lowest. Just 20% of residents in Eastern Virginia-Highland live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in Central Virginia-Highland.
Central Virginia-Highland
55.4 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern Virginia-Highland
52.0 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Virginia-Highland
53.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Virginia-Highland
54.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Virginia-Highland
53.7 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Central Virginia-Highland sounds about 27% louder than Eastern Virginia-Highland 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 N Highland Ave Ne; do you need to be?
N Highland Ave Ne; produces an estimated 59 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
59 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
46 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
39 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 42% of Virginia-Highland sits under tree canopy (much heavier than most neighborhoods) and roughly 32% 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
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International (ATL) sits south of Virginia-Highland. 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 Virginia-Highland, particularly to the north, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Virginia-Highland
The bar chart below shows the share of Virginia-Highland residents in each noise band. About 57% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 3% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Virginia-Highland Compares
Virginia-Highland sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Virginia-Highland's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Old Fourth Ward, Downtown, Grove Park, and Edgewood-Kirkwood.
Average noise level (dBA)
Virginia-Highland's 54.0 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Georgia as a whole averages 51.0 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Virginia-Highland because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 35.5% of Virginia-Highland 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, 37.1% of Virginia-Highland's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Georgia average of 22.6% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Virginia-Highland
- 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 N Highland Ave Ne; 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 42% of Virginia-Highland is under tree cover (much heavier than most neighborhoods), and the dominant land cover is low-density developed open space. 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. Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the south. Neighborhoods to the north of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
