Decibel Shield
Boston noise map: where the city is loudest
Boston is the loudest large US city by transportation-noise exposure: 12.9% of residents live with 60 dB or louder average-day road, rail and aviation noise, per the federal BTS noise map. The red zone is unmistakable — East Boston under Logan’s flight paths, with the I-90/I-93 corridors close behind.
Last updated:
| US rank (of 100 largest cities) | #1 |
|---|---|
| Residents above 60 dB | 12.9% |
| Residents above 70 dB | 2.6% |
| Residents in the 45–60 dB band | 73.4% |
| Population (ACS 2016–2020) | 682,902 |
| Census tracts mapped | 202 |
Boston’s number-one ranking is mostly an airport story. Logan sits inside the city’s harbor, which means its runways point at neighborhoods: departures and arrivals pass low over East Boston, Winthrop, Revere and Chelsea, and Massport’s own noise maps put parts of East Boston at 65+ dB with the surrounding communities at 60+. Massport has spent over $170 million soundproofing roughly 11,000 homes and three dozen schools around those flight paths — one of the largest residential sound-insulation programs in the country, and a tacit admission of what the map shows.
The rest of the red follows the highways. I-93 runs the length of the city, I-90 cuts in from the west, and unlike Sun Belt cities, Boston’s density means housing sits hard against both. The Big Dig buried the elevated Central Artery downtown in 2007, which helped the blocks around it — but this is 2020 data, all post-Big Dig, and the city still tops the table because you cannot bury an airport.
Boston noise: the specifics
- Massport has spent $170M+ soundproofing ~11,000 homes and 36 schools around Logan’s flight paths.
- Massport noise maps show parts of East Boston at 65+ dB and Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop at 60+ dB.
- Highest severe-exposure pocket: 2.6% of residents live above 70 dB, concentrated under the harbor approach paths.
- 12.9% of residents above 60 dB ranks #1 among the 100 largest US cities — see the full measured ranking.
How this map is made
This is a transparent aggregation of federal data, not an estimate: the BTS 2020 National Transportation Noise Map (road + rail + aviation) overlaid with Census ACS 2016–2020 population at tract level, clipped to the city boundary. Full methodology, limitations and the free CSV/JSON are on the US cities noise ranking. Remember what it doesn’t count: sirens, construction, nightlife and neighbors are outside the model.
How loud is your block?
The map shows averages by tract — your street is its own story. Measure it with the free online decibel meter → No install, nothing recorded.