Noise Levels in Wauna, WA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
40 dBA
Average noise across Wauna
Soft rainfall
5
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
0% of Wauna residents
57 dBA
Loudest residential point
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Wauna 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 Wauna residents, or 0.5%, live above that level. By land area, 0.1% of Wauna is above 55 dBA.
99.9% below 55 dBA
0.1% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Wauna compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Wauna
Average noise levels for Wauna residents, grouped by direction from the center of Wauna. Southern Wauna carries the highest population-weighted average; Western Wauna carries the lowest. Just 0% of residents in Western Wauna live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in Southern Wauna.
Northern Wauna
39.6 dBA · Quiet
Soft rainfall
Southern Wauna
42.1 dBA · Quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Western Wauna
27.3 dBA · Quiet
Whisper
Southern Wauna sounds about 179% louder than Western Wauna to the human ear, a 14.8 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 Ballow Rd do you need to be?
Ballow Rd produces an estimated 55 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
55 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
165 ft
42 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 45% of Wauna 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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Airport Noise
Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA) sits northeast of Wauna. 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 Wauna, particularly to the southwest, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Wauna
The bar chart below shows the share of Wauna residents in each noise band. About 100% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 0% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Wauna Compares
Wauna sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Wauna's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Longbranch, Anderson Island, Key Center, and Burley.
Average noise level (dBA)
Wauna's 40.1 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Washington as a whole averages 51.3 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Wauna because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 0.5% of Wauna 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, 0.1% of Wauna's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Washington average of 27.7% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Wauna
- 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 Ballow Rd 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 45% of Wauna is under tree cover (heavier than most cities), and the dominant land cover is shrub / scrub. 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. Seattle-Tacoma International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northeast. Neighborhoods to the southwest of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
