How much aircraft noise should you expect near Melbourne Orlando International Airport?
MLB in Melbourne, Florida runs about 93 percent general aviation traffic, not airliners. The FAA has approved noise studies for the airport, but the contour maps are not published online, so Brevard County buyers should request them.
Buyers relocating to the Space Coast almost never ask about the airport until they are standing in a backyard and a small plane goes over for the fourth time in ten minutes. Then it becomes the only question. The honest answer for Melbourne, Florida is more nuanced than "there is an airport nearby," and it is not the answer most people assume.
This is not a travel guide to flying out of MLB. This is about what aircraft noise near the field actually looks like, what an avigation easement is, and how a Brevard County buyer checks whether one is recorded against a specific property before closing.
Who Owns and Runs the Airport?
Melbourne Orlando International Airport carries the code MLB. It is owned by the City of Melbourne and operated by the Melbourne Airport Authority, whose seven-member board includes the Mayor, the Vice Mayor, and a City Council representative. The airport describes itself as a public airport governed by the Authority and operating under federal, state, and local regulations.
The name has moved around. It was Melbourne International, then Orlando Melbourne International in 2015, then Melbourne Orlando International in May 2021. If you are searching records or older documents for a Brevard County property, expect all three.
What Kind of Aircraft Actually Fly at MLB?
This is the fact that reframes the whole question. Per FAA data, MLB logged 103,660 annual operations in 2020, and the mix was roughly 93 percent general aviation, 4 percent scheduled commercial, 2 percent air taxi, and less than 1 percent military. The airport handled about 716,000 passengers and 159,240 aircraft operations in 2024.
So the noise profile around this Melbourne airport is not jet departures every few minutes. It is predominantly small aircraft, including flight training. Florida Tech operates a flight school on the field, and the FAA's noise study documentation for MLB explicitly modeled touch-and-go and helicopter flight tracks.
That matters because repetitive pattern work at low altitude is a different experience than an occasional airliner. Some buyers find it barely registers. Others find the repetition is exactly what bothers them. Neither reaction is wrong, and you cannot resolve it from a listing photo. Go stand in the yard.
Where Do the Flight Paths Run?
MLB has three asphalt runways: 09R/27L at 10,181 feet by 150 feet, 09L/27R at 6,000 feet by 150 feet, and 05/23 at 3,001 feet by 75 feet. The two parallel primary runways are oriented east and west.
Runway orientation drives approach and departure corridors. With an east-west field, the primary arrival and departure paths extend east and west of the airport rather than running north toward Suntree and Viera. The FAA's noise study package for MLB includes modeled flight tracks for both east flow and west flow.
Do not turn that into a promise about any specific address, and do not let anyone else do it either. Actual exposure at a parcel depends on runway use, flow direction, aircraft type, and altitude, and the published contour maps are the only authoritative source.
Has MLB Completed an FAA Noise Study?
Yes, twice. FAA's Part 150 status table for Florida shows a noise exposure map found in compliance June 30, 1992 and a noise compatibility program approved October 22, 1993. A second round followed: noise exposure maps found in compliance effective December 1, 2016, with the noise compatibility program approved effective April 25, 2017.
The 2016 package includes 2016 and 2021 noise exposure maps and land use acreage tables inside the DNL contours. All five elements the FAA approved in 2017 were administrative rather than physical: program management, community involvement including accepting complaints and building a noise web page, signage at runway ends, pilot handouts, and periodic program updates. The FAA notice states that no program elements relating to new or revised flight procedures for noise abatement were proposed by the airport operator.
Here is the catch for a Brevard County buyer. The maps are not posted online. The Federal Register notice states the documents are available for review at the FAA Orlando Airports District Office and at the administrative office of the airport authority at One Air Terminal Parkway in Melbourne. If you want to know whether an address sits inside a contour, you have to ask for the map.
What Does DNL 65 Mean?
DNL is a yearly day-night average sound level in decibels. Under 14 CFR Part 150, Appendix A, Table 1, the FAA classifies ordinary residential land use as compatible below DNL 65 and not compatible at DNL 65 and above. Mobile home parks are listed as not compatible at 65 and above with no sound insulation exception.
| Noise level | FAA residential compatibility |
|---|---|
| Below DNL 65 | Compatible |
| DNL 65 to 70 | Not compatible, sound attenuation may achieve compatibility |
| DNL 70 to 75 | Not compatible, sound attenuation may achieve compatibility |
| Above DNL 75 | Not compatible |
HUD uses a parallel framework at 24 CFR Part 51 Subpart B, treating DNL up to 65 as acceptable, above 65 to 75 as normally unacceptable, and above 75 as unacceptable for new construction of noise sensitive uses. HUD is explicit that noise exposure by itself will not cause it to deny support for the resale and purchase of otherwise acceptable existing buildings, though it treats environmental noise as a marketability factor.
What Is an Avigation Easement, and Is One on Your Property?
An avigation easement grants rights of overflight in the airspace above or near a property, along with the right to create noise resulting from the lawful operation of aircraft and the right to remove obstructions to overflight. That definition comes from FAA Advisory Circular 150/5000-9B.
Florida law expressly recognizes them. Florida Statute 333.12 allows a political subdivision to acquire property, air rights, or an avigation easement by purchase, grant, or condemnation.
Now the honest part. The FAA-approved 2017 program at MLB contains no residential sound insulation, no land acquisition, and no easement program. So do not assume an avigation easement exists on a Melbourne property near the airport. Check instead.
- Start with the Brevard County Property Appraiser to get the parcel ID and legal description
- Search the Brevard County Clerk of Courts official records using terms such as avigation easement, and grantee names including City of Melbourne and Melbourne Airport Authority
- Read Schedule B of your title commitment. A recorded easement should appear there as an exception, and that is the most reliable catch
The Clerk notes that online records are not the official public records, and that only the records at its branch offices, including Melbourne, Viera, Merritt Island, and Titusville, serve that role.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Florida require a seller to disclose airport noise?
No. Florida Statute Chapter 333 governs airport zoning and directs local governments to zone around noise contours, but it contains no buyer disclosure provision, and there is no Florida airport noise disclosure form. Florida's general duty to disclose known material facts affecting value that are not readily observable still applies, which is a good reason to check the records yourself rather than wait to be told.
Who decides what gets built near the airport?
Local government, not the FAA. FAA Order 5190.6C states that zoning is generally a matter within the authority of state and local governments, and the FAA's own noise map notice says the agency is not involved in determining the relative locations of specific properties with regard to the noise contours. Under Florida Statute 333.03, because MLB has a Part 150 noise study, local governments are directed to zone off the contours established by that study.
How do I file a noise complaint near MLB?
The airport's approved program has it accepting noise complaints by phone and email, and the airport's general contact line is 321-723-6227. The FAA also operates a national noise complaint and inquiry portal linked from its airport noise page.
Go Stand in the Yard
Aircraft noise is one of the few things in Brevard County real estate that no inspection will tell you about and no disclosure form will require. It is also completely knowable if you spend an hour on it. Visit the property at different times of day, pull the parcel's records, and read Schedule B before your inspection period runs out. If you are looking in Melbourne and want help checking whether anything is recorded against a specific address, ask me. My partner Nichole and I got your back. Reach out anytime at (321) 212-7676 or www.livingspacecoast.com.
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