Noise Levels in Winchester, OR | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
52 dBA
Average noise across Winchester
Quiet office to normal conversation
771
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
23% of Winchester residents
93 dBA
Loudest residential point
Power saw
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Winchester 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 771 Winchester residents, or 23.2%, live above that level. By land area, 23.9% of Winchester is above 55 dBA.
76.1% below 55 dBA
23.9% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Winchester compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Winchester
Average noise levels for Winchester residents, grouped by direction from the center of Winchester. The highest population-weighted average is in northeastern Winchester; the lowest is in western Winchester, where just 7% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about two-thirds of the share in the loudest section.
Northeastern Winchester
56.8 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Eastern Winchester
54.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Western Winchester
53.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in northeastern Winchester sounds about 22% louder than in western Winchester, a 2.9 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 Interstate Route 5 do you need to be?
Interstate Route 5 produces an estimated 74 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
74 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
61 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
53 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
46 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
38 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 24% of Winchester sits under tree canopy (about average for cities) and roughly 26% 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 Winchester. 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 Winchester
The bar chart below shows the share of Winchester residents in each noise band. About 56% 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 Winchester Compares
Winchester sits at the louder end of the spectrum. Below: how Winchester's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Roseburg North, Oakland, Glide, and Umpqua.
Average noise level (dBA)
Winchester's 52.1 dBA pop-weighted average is at the louder end of the spectrum. Oregon as a whole averages 52.9 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Winchester because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 23.2% of Winchester 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, 23.9% of Winchester's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Oregon average of 24.2% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Winchester
- 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 Interstate Route 5 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 24% of Winchester is under tree cover (about average for cities), and the dominant land cover is medium-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.
