Noise Levels in West Amityville, East Massapequa, NY | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
55 dBA
Average noise across West Amityville
Quiet office to normal conversation
1,228
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
47% of West Amityville residents
70 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across West Amityville 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 1,228 West Amityville residents, or 46.8%, live above that level. By land area, 55.5% of West Amityville is above 55 dBA.
44.5% below 55 dBA
55.5% above 55 dBA
See how noise in West Amityville compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of West Amityville
Average noise levels for West Amityville residents, grouped by direction from the center of West Amityville. Northern West Amityville carries the highest population-weighted average; Southern West Amityville carries the lowest. Just 22% of residents in Southern West Amityville live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a third of the share in Northern West Amityville.
Central West Amityville
54.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Eastern West Amityville
58.4 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northern West Amityville
59.2 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southern West Amityville
53.4 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western West Amityville
55.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northern West Amityville sounds about 49% louder than Southern West Amityville to the human ear, a 5.8 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 do you need to be?
produces an estimated 70 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
70 dBA
Highway traffic 50 ft away
165 ft
58 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
51 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
44 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
37 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 20% of West Amityville sits under tree canopy (heavier than most 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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Rail Noise
Active freight rail runs through parts of West Amityville. 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.
Airport Noise
John F Kennedy International (JFK) sits west of West Amityville. 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 45 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of West Amityville, particularly to the east, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across West Amityville
The bar chart below shows the share of West Amityville residents in each noise band. About 41% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 10% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How West Amityville Compares
West Amityville sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how West Amityville's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Wheatley Heights, south-hempstead-hempstead-ny, Nassau Shores, and Biltmore Shores.
Average noise level (dBA)
West Amityville's 55.4 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. New York as a whole averages 55.4 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than West Amityville because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 46.8% of West Amityville 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, 55.5% of West Amityville's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a New York average of 30.9% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to West Amityville
- 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 20% of West Amityville is under tree cover (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. John F Kennedy International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the west. Neighborhoods to the east of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
