Noise Levels in Williamson Road, Roanoke, VA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
57 dBA
Average noise across Williamson Road
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
2,072
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
62% of Williamson Road residents
83 dBA
Loudest residential point
Food blender at arm’s length
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Williamson Road 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 2,072 Williamson Road residents, or 61.7%, live above that level. By land area, 67.8% of Williamson Road is above 55 dBA.
32.2% below 55 dBA
67.8% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Williamson Road compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Williamson Road
Average noise levels for Williamson Road residents, grouped by direction from the center of Williamson Road. The highest population-weighted average is in northwestern Williamson Road; the lowest is in northeastern Williamson Road, where just 59% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in the loudest section.
Northwestern Williamson Road
69.6 dBA · Loud
Highway traffic 50 ft away
Central Williamson Road
64.6 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Southeastern Williamson Road
58.9 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northeastern Williamson Road
58.1 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
To the human ear, noise in northwestern Williamson Road sounds about 122% louder than in northeastern Williamson Road, a 11.5 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 US Hwy 220 do you need to be?
US Hwy 220 produces an estimated 77 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
77 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
63 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
55 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
47 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
38 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 18% of Williamson Road sits under tree canopy (about average for neighborhoods) and roughly 36% 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 Williamson Road. 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 Williamson Road
The bar chart below shows the share of Williamson Road residents in each noise band. About 23% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 14% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Williamson Road Compares
Williamson Road sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Williamson Road's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Roundhill, South Roanoke, deyerle-roanoke-va, and Colonial Avenue Area.
Average noise level (dBA)
Williamson Road's 57.3 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Virginia as a whole averages 52.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Williamson Road because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 61.7% of Williamson Road residents live in blocks where outdoor levels exceed the EPA's 55 dBA threshold. That's more than any of its peer group. Measured by land area instead, 67.8% of Williamson Road'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 Williamson Road
- 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 US Hwy 220 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 18% of Williamson Road 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.
