Noise Levels in Yarmouth Port, MA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
53 dBA
Average noise across Yarmouth Port
Quiet office to normal conversation
1,735
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
28% of Yarmouth Port residents
80 dBA
Loudest residential point
City bus interior
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Yarmouth Port 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 1,735 Yarmouth Port residents, or 28.3%, live above that level. By land area, 28.9% of Yarmouth Port is above 55 dBA.
71.1% below 55 dBA
28.9% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Yarmouth Port compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Yarmouth Port
Average noise levels for Yarmouth Port residents, grouped by direction from the center of Yarmouth Port. The highest population-weighted average is in southwestern Yarmouth Port; the lowest is in northwestern Yarmouth Port, where just 14% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, about half the share in the loudest section.
Southwestern Yarmouth Port
62.5 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Southeastern Yarmouth Port
62.2 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Western Yarmouth Port
57.9 dBA · Moderate-loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northeastern Yarmouth Port
52.3 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northwestern Yarmouth Port
50.9 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office
To the human ear, noise in southwestern Yarmouth Port sounds about 123% louder than in northwestern Yarmouth Port, a 11.6 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 US Hwy 6 do you need to be?
US Hwy 6 produces an estimated 73 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
73 dBA
City bus interior
165 ft
58 dBA
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
330 ft
49 dBA
Quiet office
660 ft
41 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 57% of Yarmouth Port sits under tree canopy (heavier than most cities) and roughly 19% 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 Yarmouth Port. 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 Yarmouth Port
The bar chart below shows the share of Yarmouth Port residents in each noise band. About 78% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 8% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Yarmouth Port Compares
Yarmouth Port sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Yarmouth Port's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with West Yarmouth, Orleans, South Yarmouth, and Marstons Mills.
Average noise level (dBA)
Yarmouth Port's 53.1 dBA pop-weighted average is at the quieter end of the spectrum. Massachusetts as a whole averages 54.3 dBA and the U.S. averages 52.0 dBA. Both are lower than Yarmouth Port because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 28.3% of Yarmouth Port 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, 28.9% of Yarmouth Port's footprint sits above 55 dBA, against a Massachusetts average of 40.0% and a national average of 28.1%.
What This Means if You're Moving to Yarmouth Port
- 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 6 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 57% of Yarmouth Port is under tree cover (heavier than most cities), and the dominant land cover is low-density developed open space. 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.
