Noise Levels in Windsor Hills, Austin, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
52 dBA
Average noise across Windsor Hills
Quiet office to normal conversation
1,973
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
29% of Windsor Hills residents
75 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Windsor Hills 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 1,973 Windsor Hills residents, or 29.0%, live above that level. By land area, 31.1% of Windsor Hills is above 55 dBA.
68.9% below 55 dBA
31.1% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Windsor Hills compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Windsor Hills
Average noise levels for Windsor Hills residents, grouped by direction from the center of Windsor Hills. The highest population-weighted average is in southern Windsor Hills; the lowest is in southwestern Windsor Hills, where just 25% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in the loudest section.
Southern Windsor Hills
57.4 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northern Windsor Hills
53.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northeastern Windsor Hills
52.0 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Southwestern Windsor Hills
51.5 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in southern Windsor Hills sounds about 51% louder than in southwestern Windsor Hills, a 5.9 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 I-35 do you need to be?
I-35 produces an estimated 79 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 quiet suburban street at night.
At source
79 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
65 dBA
Busy restaurant
330 ft
57 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
660 ft
49 dBA
Quiet office
¼ mile
41 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 13% of Windsor Hills sits under tree canopy (about average for neighborhoods) and roughly 45% 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
Austin-Bergstrom International (AUS) sits south of Windsor Hills. 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 Windsor Hills, particularly to the north, show no measurable aviation contribution. Use the Aviation toggle on the map above to isolate the airport's footprint.
How Noise Is Distributed Across Windsor Hills
The bar chart below shows the share of Windsor Hills residents in each noise band. About 73% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 0% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Windsor Hills Compares
Windsor Hills sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Windsor Hills's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Heritage Hills, Georgian Acres, North Lamar, and Windsor Park.
Average noise level (dBA)
Windsor Hills's 52.2 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 Windsor Hills because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 29.0% of Windsor Hills 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, 31.1% of Windsor Hills'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 Windsor Hills
- 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 I-35 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 13% of Windsor Hills 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.
- Airport noise is directional. Austin-Bergstrom International's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the south. Neighborhoods to the north of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
