Noise Levels in Wydewood Estates, Midland, TX | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
51 dBA
Average noise across Wydewood Estates
Quiet office to normal conversation
657
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
24% of Wydewood Estates residents
76 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Wydewood Estates 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 657 Wydewood Estates residents, or 24.5%, live above that level. By land area, 40.3% of Wydewood Estates is above 55 dBA.
59.7% below 55 dBA
40.3% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Wydewood Estates compares to similar-sized neighborhoods.
Noise by Part of Wydewood Estates
Average noise levels for Wydewood Estates residents, grouped by direction from the center of Wydewood Estates. The highest population-weighted average is in northern Wydewood Estates; the lowest is in southern Wydewood Estates, where just 30% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, three-quarters of the share in the loudest section.
Northern Wydewood Estates
62.2 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Central Wydewood Estates
58.9 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Southern Wydewood Estates
57.3 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
To the human ear, noise in northern Wydewood Estates sounds about 40% louder than in southern Wydewood Estates, a 4.9 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 N Loop 250 W do you need to be?
N Loop 250 W produces an estimated 75 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
75 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
60 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
52 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
660 ft
43 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 0% of Wydewood Estates sits under tree canopy (much lighter than most neighborhoods) and roughly 50% 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
Midland International Air And Space Port (MAF) sits southwest of Wydewood Estates. The U.S. Department of Transportation models aviation noise around this airport from federal traffic data, 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 55 dBA on the map's Overall layer. Blocks on the opposite side of Wydewood Estates, 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 Wydewood Estates
The bar chart below shows the share of Wydewood Estates residents in each noise band. About 80% 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 Wydewood Estates Compares
Wydewood Estates sits the lowest among the peer group. Below: how Wydewood Estates's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Permian Estates, Wilshire Park, scotsdale-midland-tx, and polo-park-midland-tx.
Average noise level (dBA)
Wydewood Estates's 51.1 dBA pop-weighted average is the lowest among the peer group. Texas as a whole averages 50.8 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Wydewood Estates because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 24.5% of Wydewood Estates 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, 40.3% of Wydewood Estates'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 Wydewood Estates
- 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 N Loop 250 W 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 Wydewood Estates is under tree cover (much lighter than most neighborhoods), 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.
- Airport noise is directional. Midland International Air And Space Port's approach paths concentrate aviation noise to the southwest. Neighborhoods to the northeast of downtown show no measurable contribution from the airport.
