Noise Levels in Weems, Manassas, VA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
52 dBA
Average noise across Weems
Quiet office to normal conversation
462
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
12% of Weems residents
66 dBA
Loudest residential point
Busy restaurant
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Weems 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 462 Weems residents, or 12.4%, live above that level. By land area, 15.6% of Weems is above 55 dBA.
84.4% below 55 dBA
15.6% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Weems compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Weems
Average noise levels for Weems residents, grouped by direction from the center of Weems. The highest population-weighted average is in southwestern Weems; the lowest is in northern Weems, where just 3% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a fifth of the share in the loudest section.
Southwestern Weems
57.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southern Weems
55.5 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Central Weems
52.1 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southeastern Weems
51.7 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern Weems
50.7 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
To the human ear, noise in southwestern Weems sounds about 60% louder than in northern Weems, a 6.8 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 Weems Rd do you need to be?
Weems Rd produces an estimated 54 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
54 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 42% of Weems 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.
-->
Airport Noise
Washington Dulles International (IAD) sits north of Weems. 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 Weems, 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 Weems
The bar chart below shows the share of Weems residents in each noise band. About 89% 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 Weems Compares
Weems sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Weems's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Baldwin District, Wellington, West Gate, and downtown-manassas-manassas-va.
Average noise level (dBA)
Weems's 51.7 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Virginia as a whole averages 52.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Weems because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 12.4% of Weems 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, 15.6% of Weems's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Virginia average of 30.0% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Weems
- 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 Weems 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 42% of Weems is under tree cover (much heavier than most neighborhoods), and the dominant land cover is low-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.
- Airport noise is directional. Washington Dulles International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the north. Neighborhoods to the south of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
