Noise Levels in Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista, Philadelphia, PA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
62 dBA
Average noise across Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista
Busy restaurant
11,697
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
99% of Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista residents
70 dBA
Loudest residential point
Highway traffic 50 ft away
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista 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 11,697 Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista residents, or 98.8%, live above that level. By land area, 98.2% of Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista is above 55 dBA.
1.8% below 55 dBA
98.2% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista
Average noise levels for Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista residents, grouped by direction from the center of Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista. Western Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista carries the highest population-weighted average; Southern Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista carries the lowest. Just 100% of residents in Southern Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, roughly the same as the share in Western Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista.
Central Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista
62.0 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Eastern Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista
61.2 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Northern Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista
61.5 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Southern Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista
61.0 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Western Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista
63.2 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Western Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista sounds about 16% louder than Southern Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista to the human ear, a 2.2 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 Broad St do you need to be?
Broad St produces an estimated 65 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
65 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
50 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
42 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
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 0% of Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 82% 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
Philadelphia International (PHL) sits southwest of Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista. 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 Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista, particularly to the northeast, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista
The bar chart below shows the share of Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista residents in each noise band. About 0% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 74% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista Compares
Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Point Breeze-Philadelphia, City Center East, South Philadelphia, and Schuylkill Southwest.
Average noise level (dBA)
Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista's 61.8 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Pennsylvania as a whole averages 52.9 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 98.8% of Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista 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, 98.2% of Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Pennsylvania average of 33.5% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista
- 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 Broad St 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 0% of Wharton-Hawthorne-Bella Vista is under tree cover (much lighter than most neighborhoods), and the dominant land cover is high-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. Philadelphia International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the southwest. Neighborhoods to the northeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
