Federal Way, WA Noise Levels
Is Federal Way, WA noisy?
Federal Way, WA reads 52.5 dB(A) on BTS's 24-hour average, inside HUD's "Acceptable" noise zone, 65 dB(A) day-night average or below under 24 CFR 51.104, the federal government's own line for building housing with no extra sound attenuation required. Aircraft drives that number here, not the other two sources. Treat this as Federal Way's one representative point, not a promise about every block in it, BTS's map wasn't built to resolve individual streets.
Federal Way's noise, by source
Each of the three transportation modes gets its own model from BTS; the combined figure above is what they add up to.
What this means for a house here
Aircraft noise is intermittent and lower-frequency, which is why FAA’s Part 150 program funds whole-envelope sound insulation for homes inside an airport’s own mapped noise contour rather than relying on window replacement alone.
Where Federal Way ranks
Among the 3,622 US places in this dataset with any measurable transportation noise, Federal Way ranks 812, loudest first. Population is about 100,252, 341th largest of the 12,137 places covered here.
Your street may differ from Federal Way's reading
This page describes Federal Way as a whole. If one specific address is what matters, BTS publishes the same underlying map for free.
Behind Federal Way's reading
The methodology guide shows exactly how Federal Way's reading was built from BTS's tile data. Since aircraft is what's driving this reading, the guide to what actually cuts each kind of noise covers the fix that fits.