New Jersey takes the noise crown. <\/p>\n
A recent study<\/a> found that New Jersey is the loudest state in the lower 48.<\/p>\n Using metrics including residents and bars per square mile, road and air traffic, construction activity, noise complaint searches, public transit density, and dog ownership, the study weighted 0-to-100 scales for each category to determine overall noise rankings.<\/p>\n A recent study found that New Jersey is the loudest state in the lower 48. raoyang \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n The Garden State scored a deafeningly high 75.27 for overall noise, drowning out Massachusetts (57.03) and Rhode Island (55.39), which ranked second and third place, respectively. <\/p>\n The top five were rounded out by Maryland and Delaware.<\/p>\n To the surprise of many, New York came in eighth place with a score of 26.03, just behind Connecticut and Florida. <\/p>\n Manhattan Mental Health Counseling<\/a> conducted the study, which excluded Alaska and Hawaii.<\/p>\n A constellation of factors pushed Jersey to the top spot. With 1,298 residents per square mile, the state has the highest population density. New Jersey also has the highest daily commuter traffic, with 29,603 vehicle miles traveled per square mile each day. <\/p>\n According to Natalie Buchwald, founder of Manhattan Mental Health Counseling, New Jersey\u2019s high population and packed roads \u201cmake everyday noise hard for people to avoid.\u201d<\/p>\n A bulk of the Garden State\u2019s daily racket comes from commuting. njaganath \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n She added that a bulk of the daily racket comes from commuting. <\/p>\n \u201cSitting in traffic with horns and engines around you, or squeezing onto packed trains, puts you on alert before you\u2019ve even started your day. That tension tends to follow you into work and back home again,\u201d said Buchwald in a statement.<\/p>\n And that tonal tension could prove deadly. <\/p>\n Transportation noise has long posed a severe public health hazard: in 1981, the EPA warned that half the US population lived with harmful levels of road, rail, or aircraft noise. Today, EU researchers rank traffic noise <\/a>as the second-greatest environmental threat after air pollution, responsible for a staggering one million years of healthy life lost each year, according to the WHO.<\/p>\n A 2023 study <\/a>found that long-term noise exposure is associated with cardiovascular disease and puts recipients of constant racket at a higher risk of heart attack and stroke.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Natalie Buchwald, founder of Manhattan Mental Health Counseling, New Jersey\u2019s high population and packed roads \u201cmake everyday noise hard for people to avoid.\u201d mandritoiu \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n At the other end of the sound spectrum, Wyoming is the quietest state, with a score of 6.67, followed by West Virginia, North Dakota, and Mississippi. <\/p>\n Denizens of the Garden State have long griped about the subpar sound quality. <\/p>\n Earlier this year, eerie humming sounds from the construction site of a massive AI data center <\/a>in Vineland, New Jersey reportedly drove residents out of their minds<\/a>.<\/p>\n