How noisy is that postcode?
Check mapped road and rail noise at any England postcode — day and night, in plain English. Free, from official DEFRA noise maps.
Try: SW1A 1AA — central London · M1 1AE — Manchester city centre · TN38 0GB — St Leonards-on-Sea
How it works
1. Official model
DEFRA maps noise from major roads and railways across England every five years. The current round is from 2022.
2. Your postcode
We look up the modelled noise level at your postcode's location — separately for road and rail, day and night.
3. Plain English
Instead of raw decibels, you get the band and what it actually feels like — plus honest notes on what the data can't tell you.
What do these decibel levels feel like?
30 dB
Whisper / quiet rural night
40 dB
Library
50 dB
Quiet office, light rainfall
60 dB
Normal conversation, busy-road hum
70 dB
Busy road at the kerb, vacuum cleaner
80 dB
Heavy lorry passing, alarm clock
Decibels are logarithmic: a 10 dB increase sounds roughly twice as loud.
What this isn't:a measurement at your door. The data is DEFRA's computer model of major roads and railways (DEFRA Strategic Noise Mapping Round 4 (2022)). Local streets, neighbours, pubs and aircraft aren't included — so "no mapped noise" never means "silent". Read the full methodology.