Prairie du Chien, WI Noise Levels
How loud is Prairie du Chien, WI?
At 47.5 dB(A), Prairie du Chien, WI 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 rail traffic, well ahead of the other two modes BTS tracks. That figure is sampled at one coordinate, the Census Bureau's own internal point for Prairie du Chien, not a street-by-street survey of the whole place.
Where Prairie du Chien'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 Prairie du Chien
The same window and door upgrades that work on road noise also cut broadband rail noise, though very low-frequency freight rumble travels through walls, not just glass.
How Prairie du Chien compares nationally
Prairie du Chien ranks 2,581 of 3,622 measured places nationally, 1 being the loudest this dataset covers. By population, it ranks 4,635 of the 12,137 places in this dataset, home to about 5,472 people.
Checking one address in Prairie du Chien
Nothing here substitutes for checking one address in Prairie du Chien directly, and BTS's own map lets anyone do that at no cost.
Prairie du Chien'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 rail traffic calls for a different fix than the other two sources.