Watertown, MA Noise Levels
Watertown, MA: what the federal noise map shows
Watertown, MA reads 47.5 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. Watertown's reading comes from a single sampled point, not a block-by-block sweep, so a specific address here could genuinely differ.
Watertown'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.
Where Watertown ranks
Among the 3,622 US places in this dataset with any measurable transportation noise, Watertown ranks 1,986, loudest first. By population, it ranks 1,147 of the 12,137 places in this dataset, home to about 35,985 people.
Your street may differ from Watertown's reading
For a single house or lot in Watertown rather than the town-wide figure above, BTS's own map is the same free source, queried directly.
More on how this number was built
For exactly which federal dataset feeds Watertown's figure, see the methodology guide. The guide to reading a quiet result explains what "no measurable noise" actually means at Watertown.