Noise Levels in Wallace, LA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
70 dBA
Average noise across Wallace
Highway traffic 50 ft away
23
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
6% of Wallace residents
105 dBA
Loudest residential point
Power saw
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Wallace 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 23 Wallace residents, or 5.8%, live above that level. By land area, 8.9% of Wallace is above 55 dBA.
91.1% below 55 dBA
8.9% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Wallace compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Wallace
Average noise levels for Wallace residents, grouped by direction from the center of Wallace. Southern Wallace carries the highest population-weighted average; Western Wallace carries the lowest. Just 4% of residents in Western Wallace live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in Southern Wallace.
Eastern Wallace
55.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Wallace
53.4 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southern Wallace
81.3 dBA · Loud
Food blender at arm’s length
Western Wallace
42.9 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Southern Wallace sounds about 1332% louder than Western Wallace to the human ear, a 38.4 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 La 18 do you need to be?
La 18 produces an estimated 58 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
58 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
165 ft
43 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
330 ft
35 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 57% of Wallace sits under tree canopy (heavier than most cities) 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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Rail Noise
Active freight rail runs through parts of Wallace. 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 Wallace
The bar chart below shows the share of Wallace residents in each noise band. About 37% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 61% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Wallace Compares
Wallace sits the highest among the peer group. Below: how Wallace's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Hester, Kraemer, Mount Airy, and North Vacherie.
Average noise level (dBA)
Wallace's 70.0 dBA pop-weighted average is the highest among the peer group. Louisiana as a whole averages 50.7 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Wallace because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 5.8% of Wallace 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, 8.9% of Wallace's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Louisiana average of 28.9% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Wallace
- 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 La 18 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 57% of Wallace is under tree cover (heavier than most cities), and the dominant land cover is woody wetlands. 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.
