Northampton, MA Noise Levels
How loud is Northampton, MA?
At 47.5 dB(A), Northampton, MA falls 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. The main source is aircraft, well ahead of the other two modes BTS tracks. Northampton's reading comes from a single sampled point, not a block-by-block sweep, so a specific address here could genuinely differ.
Where Northampton's noise comes from
BTS models these three sources separately before combining them, so a place can be quiet on two and loud on the third.
If you're weighing a move to Northampton
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.
How Northampton compares nationally
Northampton ranks 2,012 of 3,622 measured places nationally, 1 being the loudest this dataset covers. By population, it ranks 1,310 of the 12,137 places in this dataset, home to about 31,315 people.
Checking one address in Northampton
Nothing here substitutes for checking one address in Northampton directly, and BTS's own map lets anyone do that at no cost.
Northampton's number isn't a one-off calculation, it comes from the same method covered in the methodology guide. The guide to what actually cuts each kind of noise explains why aircraft calls for a different fix than the other two sources.