Noise Levels in Wellshire, Denver, CO | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
53 dBA
Average noise across Wellshire
Quiet office to normal conversation
706
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
23% of Wellshire residents
68 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Wellshire 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 706 Wellshire residents, or 22.6%, live above that level. By land area, 27.7% of Wellshire is above 55 dBA.
72.3% below 55 dBA
27.7% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Wellshire compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Wellshire
Average noise levels for Wellshire residents, grouped by direction from the center of Wellshire. The highest population-weighted average is in eastern Wellshire; the lowest is in northwestern Wellshire, where just 21% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in the loudest section.
Eastern Wellshire
62.3 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Western Wellshire
56.4 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southern Wellshire
56.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southwestern Wellshire
56.2 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northwestern Wellshire
53.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in eastern Wellshire sounds about 87% louder than in northwestern Wellshire, a 9.0 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 68 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
68 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
165 ft
55 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
330 ft
48 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
41 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 19% of Wellshire sits under tree canopy (about average for neighborhoods) 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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Airport Noise
Denver International (DEN) sits northeast of Wellshire. 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 Wellshire, 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 Wellshire
The bar chart below shows the share of Wellshire residents in each noise band. About 81% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 6% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Wellshire Compares
Wellshire sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Wellshire's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Valverde, Willow Park, Heather Ridge, and Lynn Knoll.
Average noise level (dBA)
Wellshire's 52.9 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Colorado as a whole averages 51.9 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Wellshire because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 22.6% of Wellshire 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, 27.7% of Wellshire's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Colorado average of 25.4% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Wellshire
- 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 19% of Wellshire is under tree cover (about average for 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. Denver International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the northeast. Neighborhoods to the southwest of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
