Noise Levels in Yorktown, VA | Find Quiet Neighborhoods With Our Sound Map
54 dBA
Average noise across Yorktown
Quiet office to normal conversation
14,041
Residents above the EPA 55 dBA threshold
30% of Yorktown residents
92 dBA
Loudest residential point
Power saw
This map shows modeled outdoor noise across Yorktown 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 14,041 Yorktown residents, or 30.0%, live above that level. By land area, 35.1% of Yorktown is above 55 dBA.
64.9% below 55 dBA
35.1% above 55 dBA
See how noise in Yorktown compares to similar-sized cities.
Noise by Part of Yorktown
Average noise levels for Yorktown residents, grouped by direction from the center of Yorktown. The highest population-weighted average is in southwestern Yorktown; the lowest is in northwestern Yorktown, where just 15% of residents live in blocks above the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, a third of the share in the loudest section.
Southwestern Yorktown
66.0 dBA · Loud
Busy restaurant
Palmer
60.1 dBA · Loud
Normal conversation an arm’s length away
Northern Yorktown
55.0 dBA · Moderate-loud
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northeastern Yorktown
52.9 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
Northwestern Yorktown
52.1 dBA · Moderate
Quiet office to normal conversation
To the human ear, noise in southwestern Yorktown sounds about 162% louder than in northwestern Yorktown, a 13.9 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 Kiln Creek Pkwy do you need to be?
Kiln Creek Pkwy produces an estimated 55 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
55 dBA
Quiet office to normal conversation
165 ft
43 dBA
Quiet suburban street at night
330 ft
36 dBA
Soft rainfall
660 ft
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
¼ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
½ mile
35 dBA
Soft rainfall
Calculated from the model's calibrated attenuation formula. About 43% of Yorktown sits under tree canopy (heavier than most cities) and roughly 27% 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 Yorktown. 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 Yorktown
The bar chart below shows the share of Yorktown residents in each noise band. About 54% of residents live below the EPA's 55 dBA threshold, and roughly 10% live in blocks above 60 dBA. Long-term exposure in that range is linked to elevated stress hormones and cardiovascular risk.
How Yorktown Compares
Yorktown sits at the quieter end of the spectrum. Below: how Yorktown's average outdoor noise and share of residents above the EPA threshold compare with Williamsburg, Hampton, Portsmouth, and Newport News.
Average noise level (dBA)
Yorktown's 54.5 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 Yorktown because most of either area is rural land away from major roads.
Share of residents above 55 dBA
About 30.0% of Yorktown 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, 35.1% of Yorktown'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 Yorktown
- 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 Kiln Creek Pkwy 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 43% of Yorktown is under tree cover (heavier than most cities), 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.
