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Downtown noise map: how loud is it?
Downtown is one of Los Angeles's louder neighborhoods: 20% of residents live with average-day transportation noise of 60 dB or more — road, rail and aviation combined — which ranks it the 6th-loudest of 110 Los Angeles neighborhoods. The map below shows how that noise concentrates along its busiest corridors.
Last updated:
| Rank in Los Angeles (of 110 neighborhoods) | #6 |
|---|---|
| Residents above 60 dB | 20% |
| Residents above 70 dB | 7.1% |
| Residents in the 45–60 dB band | 74.4% |
| Residents (ACS 2016–2020, area-weighted) | 60,117 |
| Census tracts mapped | 38 |
Downtown is home to about 60,117 residents across 38 census tracts. 20% of them are exposed to 60 dB or more of average-day road, rail and aviation noise. Within that, 7.1% face the most severe band — 70 dB or louder, the level at which sustained exposure starts to threaten hearing. A further 74.4% sit in the 45–60 dB band — a noticeable background hum rather than a hearing risk. That ranks Downtown #6 of 110 Los Angeles neighborhoods, well above the typical Los Angeles neighborhood. Among Los Angeles neighborhoods it sits just below Elysian Park (#5) and just above Cypress Park (#7).
The exposure is not spread evenly. The 7.1% in the 70 dB-plus band are the households packed right against a freeway, rail corridor or flight path, while blocks a few streets inland fall away fast. On the map that reads as a bright ribbon of noise tracing the corridor through Downtown.
Downtown noise: the specifics
- Ranks #6 of 110 Los Angeles neighborhoods by share of residents exposed to ≥60 dB transportation noise.
- 20% of Downtown's ~60,117 residents live with 60 dB or louder average-day transportation noise.
- 7.1% are in the severe 70 dB+ band; 74.4% sit in the 45–60 dB moderate range.
- Area-weighted across 38 census tracts from the federal BTS 2020 noise map × ACS 2016–2020 population.
- #6 of 110 — see the full Los Angeles ranking.
What share of Downtown residents are exposed to 60 dB or louder transportation noise?
20% of Downtown residents live with average-day transportation noise (road, rail and aviation) at or above 60 dB, and 7.1% are above 70 dB — ranking Downtown #6 of 110 Los Angeles neighborhoods by noise exposure.
How Downtown compares
How this is measured
This is a transparent aggregation of federal data, not an estimate: the US DOT 2020 National Transportation Noise Map (road + rail + aviation), paired with Census population by the University of Washington and area-weighted to the Los Angeles Times boundary for Downtown. It does not count sirens, construction, nightlife or neighbors, and it resolves busy corridors better than quiet local streets. For your exact spot, measure it with the free online decibel meter →
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