Noise Levels in Whitehouse, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
46 dBA
Average noise across Whitehouse
Quiet suburban street at night
1,107
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
9% of Whitehouse residents
87 dBA
Loudest residential point
Lawnmower at 1 m
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Whitehouse 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 1,107 Whitehouse residents, or 8.6%, live above that level. By land area, 13.3% of Whitehouse is above 55 dBA.
86.7% below 55 dBA
13.3% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Whitehouse compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Whitehouse
Average noise levels for Whitehouse residents, grouped by direction from the center of Whitehouse. Central Whitehouse carries the highest population-weighted average; Western Whitehouse carries the lowest. Just 6% of residents in Western Whitehouse live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in Central Whitehouse.
Central Whitehouse
49.6 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Eastern Whitehouse
47.8 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Northern Whitehouse
46.3 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet office
Southern Whitehouse
45.1 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Western Whitehouse
45.0 dBA · Mostly quiet
Quiet suburban street at night
Central Whitehouse sounds about 38% louder than Western Whitehouse to the human ear, a 4.6 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 E Loop 49 do you need to be?
E Loop 49 produces an estimated 62 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
62 dBA
Busy restaurant
165 ft
50 dBA
Quiet office
330 ft
44 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
660 ft
37 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 31% of Whitehouse sits under tree canopy (about average for cities) and roughly 14% 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.
-->
Rail Noise
Active freight rail runs through parts of Whitehouse. 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.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Whitehouse
The bar chart below shows the share of Whitehouse residents in each noise band. About 95% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 1% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Whitehouse Compares
Whitehouse sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Whitehouse's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Flint, Jacksonville, Lindale, and Henderson.
Average noise level (dBA)
Whitehouse's 46.0 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Whitehouse because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 8.6% of Whitehouse 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, 13.3% of Whitehouse's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Texas average of 22.8% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Whitehouse
- 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 E Loop 49 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 31% of Whitehouse is under tree cover (about average for cities), and the dominant land cover is pasture / hay. 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.
