Noise maps. As important as traffic patterns.
Many of us get real-time traffic, weather, and transit information from our mobile phones. But did you know that many cities also create noise maps? In fact, most European cities of over 100,000 residents are required to create and update their noise maps every few years.
A lot of the maps aren’t yet in real time but fixed at a point in time. But you can get a sense of the noisiest areas of a city when you’re planning to visit or live there. Keep checking this list of maps and we’ll update it as we find maps around the world.
Soundproofist's list of noise maps
| Country | City or state | Description | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | Melbourne | Interactive noise map of Melbourne Airports flight paths | See the map |
| Australia | Sydney | Sydney Traffic Noise and Urban Greenery map | See the map |
| Austria | All | Road noise map, updated in 2022 | See the map |
| Austria | Vienna (Wien) | Static image of Vienna noise map. NOTE: Vienna will be updating its noise map in 2022. | See the map |
| Austria | Vienna (Wien) | This is an environmental report with a sampling of maps and decibels readings, including some quiet places, from the City of Vienna. | See the report |
| Belgium | Brussels | "Noisy City: audible data visualization on Brussel's noise pollution." | See the interactive map |
| Finland | Helsinki | Traffic noise heatmap of Helsinki | see the map |
| France | Paris | "Le Bruit Routier" is a color-coded map created in 2015 that shows daytime and nighttime noise | See the map |
| France | Paris | Interactive noise map from "Car Free Megacities" - turn your sound on! | English version of map |
| Germany | Berlin | Noise map of Berlin published in 2018 in Morgenpost. | See the map |
| Germany | Frankfurt | Real-time noise measurements of locations in the flight paths of planes into and out of Frankfurt Airport. | See the map |
| Global | All | Noise Planet's noise map claims to be a real-time model of noise captured around the world. You can also participate in this open-source project. | Search the global map |
| Global | Flight noise (global) | A collection of daytime and nighttime readings of flight noise over airports in cities around the world, but not complete. | See the map |
| Hungary | Budapest | Noise map of the party quarter - from ResearchGate | See the map |
| India | Karnataka | The state of Karnataka uploads a new dataset every month to track noise levels. | See the list of maps |
| India | Nagpur | From "An innovative approach of urban noise monitoring using cycle in Nagpur, India," Vijaya Laxmi, Jaydip Dey, Komal Kalawapudi, Ritesh Vijay | See noisemap |
| Ireland | All | The EPA lets you toggle different types of environmental views, including noise (under "Environment and Well Being") | See the map |
| Ireland | Dublin | A list of data maps created in 2012, which you can download. | See the list |
| Italy | Milano | Dynamic noise map of Milano using the "Harmonica Noise Index" to measure perceived noise. | See the map |
| Italy | Rome | Dynamic noise map of Rome using the "Harmonica Noise Index" (perceived noise) | See the map |
| Kenya | Nairobi | CBD Area of study in Nairobi, from scientific research: "Noise Pollution Mapping Using GIS in Nairobi, Kenya" by Enock Abe Wawa, Galcano Canny Mulaku | See the map |
| Netherlands | Amsterdam | A 2018 noise map of the city, with a color-coded legend | See the map |
| Netherlands | Rotterdam | A color-coded traffic and transportation noise map created in 2007. | See the map |
| Pakistan | Faisalabad Sadar | Heat map from research "Assessment of noise pollution and its effects on human health in industrial hub of Pakistan" by Zia Ur Rahman Farooqi, Muhammad Sabir, Junaid Latif, Predrag Ilić | See the map |
| Poland | Poznan & Wrocław | Acoustic map, mostly of traffic noise | Download the maps (they're small) |
| Poland | Warsaw & Cracow | Acoustic map, mostly of traffic noise | Download the maps |
| Portugal | Lisbon | Nighttime noise map by decibels - broad overview of neighborhoods | See the map |
| Portugal | Porto | Porto - "selected quiet areas of the city" from ResearchGate. | See the article and map |
| South Korea | Gwangju | Map of road noise from this research: "Statistical Road-Traffic Noise Mapping Based on Elementary Urban Forms in Two Cities of South Korea" | See the map |
| Spain | Barcelona | Last updated in 2017, this Barcelona noise map is color coded by neighborhood. | See the map |
| Spain | Barcelona, district de Sant Andreu | BitLab's sound mapping project for Barcelona's Sant Andreu district in 2019. | See the map |
| Spain | Basque area | Not exactly a heat map, but an interactive map of sound recordings made at specific points on the map | Try it |
| Spain | Madrid | Hosted on Github, you can hover over several monitoring areas on a map and get real-time decibel levels for traffic noise and "background noise" | Try it |
| Sweden | Stockholm | This noise map is from 1999, so it's rather dated. The data came from the City of Stockholm Environmental and Health Administration. | See the map |
| Switzerland | Basel | Road noise around Basel, from sonBASE GIS noise database. | See the map |
| Turkey | Istanbul | This is actually more of a soundscape map where you can listen to recorded sounds from different sites, including binaural recordings. It does not show decibel readings. | See the map |
| Turkey | Istanbul | This is a daytime noise map of Istanbul, Turkey with color-coded dBA measurements. | See the map |
| United Kingdom | London | List of downloadable datasets for road and rail noise. Last updated in 2012. | See the list |
| United Kingdom | London | Healthy Streets offers downloadable, color-coded noise maps updated in 2021 | See the maps |
| United Kingdom | London | Car Free Megacities interactive noise map, with sound | Interactive map |
| United States | All | The National Transportation Noise Map offers visual data on noise from air and highway transportation | See the map |
| United States | All | National Parks Service - Mapping Sound | Learn more and view maps |
| United States | All | The How Loud website is for real estate. Type in a US address and you'll get a noise rating. | See the map |
| United States | Boston | A map of neighborhoods most affected by airplane noise | See the map |
| United States | Los Angeles | A map of airport noise that contains data contributions from 2004 through 2022. However, it doesn't have much explanation on how to use the tool or understand the classifications. | See the map |
| United States | New York City | Map of 311 calls made in 2015 in New York City | Use the interactive map |
| United States | New York City | RentHop's 2018 noise map, by neighborhood | See the map |
| United States | New York City | Car Free Megacities interactive noise map, with sound | Link, with sound |
| United States | New York City | NYC Open Data tracks daily 311 requests. You can view this data in an application such as Carto or Tableau | See the data |
| United States | San Diego | A neighborhood noise study used for San Diego Airport planning in 2014. | See the map |
| United States | San Francisco Bay Area | The Bay Area has several airports. This 2017 noise map tracks the noise from air traffic across the region. | See the map |
| United States | San Francisco | The RentLingo map was designed for people trying to choose a neighborhood to live in. Enter an address to see the rating. Not sure how the data was collected or how recent it is. | See the map |
| United States | San Francisco | The Noise Bay map was created in 2017 with an Android app created by the University of Geneve (Switzerland). User-driven results are posted on this map. | See the map |
