Houston, PA Noise Levels
Is Houston, PA noisy?
Houston, PA reads 57.5 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. Road traffic drives that number here, not the other two sources. This describes Houston as a whole, not a specific block, the underlying BTS map resolves to about 38 meters per pixel, sampled at the town's own center point.
Houston'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
Upgraded windows, door seals and STC-rated glazing meaningfully cut broadband, near-continuous road noise.
Where Houston ranks
Among the 3,622 US places in this dataset with any measurable transportation noise, Houston ranks 672, loudest first. By population, it ranks 9,734 of the 12,137 places in this dataset, home to about 1,151 people.
Your street may differ from Houston's reading
This page describes Houston as a whole. If one specific address is what matters, BTS publishes the same underlying map for free.
Behind Houston's reading
The methodology guide shows exactly how Houston's reading was built from BTS's tile data. Since road traffic is what's driving this reading, the guide to what actually cuts each kind of noise covers the fix that fits.