Decibel Shield

Honolulu noise map: where the city is loudest

Honolulu ranks sixth in the US: 9.9% of residents live with 60 dB or louder transportation noise. Geography is destiny here — the city is a narrow strip between mountains and ocean, so the H-1 freeway and the airport corridor run through virtually everything.

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Census-tract noise map of Honolulu, HI: tracts colored green (few residents above 60 dB transportation noise) to red (half or more residents above 60 dB). The loudest tracts follow the H-1 corridor and the airport approach.
Every census tract colored by the share of its residents exposed to ≥60 dB average-day transportation noise — real values per tract from the federal BTS 2020 noise map, no interpolation.
Honolulu noise exposure at a glance
US rank (of 100 largest cities) #6
Residents above 60 dB 9.9%
Residents above 70 dB 2.1%
Residents in the 45–60 dB band 30.2%
Population (ACS 2016–2020) 348,116
Census tracts mapped 132

Honolulu is squeezed onto a coastal shelf between the Ko‘olau range and the Pacific, and that compression shows in the data. The H-1 — the busiest highway in Hawai‘i — has no choice but to run lengthwise through the urban core, stacking traffic noise onto the neighborhoods of Kalihi, downtown and Mō‘ili‘ili that have nowhere else to be.

The airport corridor compounds it on the western end, where Daniel K. Inouye International’s operations sit beside some of the city’s densest working-class housing. The result is a paradox visitors rarely notice from Waikīkī’s beach side: paradise ranks sixth in the nation for the share of residents living above 60 dB, ahead of Los Angeles.

Honolulu noise: the specifics

  • The city occupies a narrow shelf between mountains and ocean, forcing the H-1 freeway through the urban core.
  • The airport corridor on the western end borders some of the city’s densest residential areas (Kalihi).
  • Ranks ahead of Los Angeles for share of residents above 60 dB — 9.9% vs 9.8%.
  • 9.9% of residents above 60 dB ranks #6 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.

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