Quiet hours, decibel limits, and complaint procedures for 46 of the largest US metros — each summarised from the city's own code, with a link to the source so you can check it.
The single most useful thing to know before filing a complaint is which kind of standard your city uses, because it determines whether a decibel reading settles the question or merely supports it.
A number, a location, and a time window. Boston's 70 dBA day / 50 dBA night is the clearest example. Here a measurement can establish the violation on its own.
New York and Los Angeles compare the noise to the ambient level. The same 65 dBA can be legal on a busy street and a violation on a quiet one, so measure the background too.
Atlanta and Philadelphia ask whether sound carries a set distance during restricted hours. A reading corroborates your account; the distance and time are what the test turns on.
| City | Quiet hours | Standard |
|---|---|---|
| New York, NY | 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM weekdays; 10:00 PM – 9:00 AM weekends | Mixed standard |
| Los Angeles, CA | 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM | Mixed standard |
| Chicago, IL | 8:00 PM – 8:00 AM for noise on the public way | Mixed standard |
| Dallas, TX | No single citywide quiet period; amplified sound near residences is restricted from sunset to 8:00 AM | Mixed standard |
| Houston, TX | 10:00 PM – 8:00 AM for most permitted amplified sound | Measured decibel limits |
| Atlanta, GA | 11:00 PM – 7:00 AM Sunday through Thursday; midnight – 7:00 AM Friday and Saturday | Plainly-audible standard |
| Washington, DC | 9:00 PM – 7:00 AM | Measured decibel limits |
| Philadelphia, PA | 9:00 PM – 8:00 AM in residential areas | Plainly-audible standard |
| Miami, FL | 11:00 PM – 7:00 AM for amplified sound and music | Measured decibel limits |
| Phoenix, AZ | Heightened scrutiny 11:00 PM – 7:00 AM; residential quiet hours commonly treated as 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM | Plainly-audible standard |
| Boston, MA | 11:00 PM – 7:00 AM | Measured decibel limits |
| Riverside, CA | 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM | Measured decibel limits |
| San Francisco, CA | 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM | Measured decibel limits |
| Detroit, MI | 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM, extending to 11:00 PM Friday and Saturday in the Central Business District | Mixed standard |
| Seattle, WA | 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM weekdays; 10:00 PM – 9:00 AM weekends and legal holidays | Measured decibel limits |
| Minneapolis, MN | 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM for most activities | Mixed standard |
| Tampa, FL | 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM outside the entertainment districts | Mixed standard |
| San Diego, CA | 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM | Measured decibel limits |
| Denver, CO | 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM weekdays; 11:00 PM – 8:00 AM weekends | Measured decibel limits |
| Baltimore, MD | 9:00 PM – 7:00 AM | Measured decibel limits |
| Charlotte, NC | 9:00 PM – 7:00 AM for mechanical and domestic equipment; amplified sound drops to its night limit at 9:00 PM Sunday–Thursday and 11:00 PM Friday–Saturday | Measured decibel limits |
| Orlando, FL | 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM, when the Class A limits drop | Measured decibel limits |
| San Antonio, TX | No blanket curfew; the code applies a 7 dB stricter correction to noise present at night | Mixed standard |
| Portland, OR | Night hours are 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM, when every limit drops 5 dBA | Measured decibel limits |
| Sacramento, CA | 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM, when the exterior standard drops to 50 dBA | Measured decibel limits |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM, when the residential limit drops to 60 dB(A) | Measured decibel limits |
| Las Vegas, NV | Overnight restrictions bite hardest between 11:00 PM and 7:00 AM; construction in residential districts is confined to daytime hours | Plainly-audible standard |
| Austin, TX | 10:30 PM – 7:00 AM for noise or instruments audible to an adjacent business or residence | Mixed standard |
| Cincinnati, OH | Restrictions tighten in the evening and overnight; the code works from audibility and disturbance rather than a single curfew | Plainly-audible standard |
| Kansas City, MO | 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM, when the residential limit drops to 55 dB(A) | Measured decibel limits |
| Columbus, OH | Property-maintenance noise is confined to 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM; the audibility rules apply at all hours | Plainly-audible standard |
| Indianapolis, IN | 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM for most sound-producing devices; 7:00 PM – 7:00 AM for construction and pile driving | Plainly-audible standard |
| Cleveland, OH | 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM | Plainly-audible standard |
| Nashville, TN | Amplified sound in residential zones is restricted overnight; business and commercial activity has its own 9:00 PM restriction | Mixed standard |
| Virginia Beach, VA | 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM, when the interior standard drops to 55 dBA | Measured decibel limits |
| Providence, RI | 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM in residential zones; downtown, commercial and open space areas switch to their lower limit only between 2:00 AM and 7:00 AM | Measured decibel limits |
| Jacksonville, FL | 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM for general amplified sound | Measured decibel limits |
| Milwaukee, WI | Night criteria apply from 10:00 PM; lawn and yard equipment is barred 9:00 PM – 8:00 AM, snow removal excepted | Mixed standard |
| Oklahoma City, OK | 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM in residential land use classifications | Mixed standard |
| Raleigh, NC | 11:00 PM – 7:00 AM are the code's nighttime hours | Mixed standard |
| Memphis, TN | 11:00 PM – 7:00 AM | Plainly-audible standard |
| Richmond, VA | 11:00 PM – 7:00 AM are the code's nighttime hours | Measured decibel limits |
| Louisville, KY | Overnight restrictions apply from 7:00 AM in reverse — refuse collection is confined to daytime hours, and animal noise has its own 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM window | Plainly-audible standard |
| New Orleans, LA | Nighttime is 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM on weekdays and 10:00 PM – 8:00 AM at weekends | Mixed standard |
| Hartford, CT | 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM, except that night runs from 10:00 PM Saturday to 9:00 AM Sunday | Measured decibel limits |
| Buffalo, NY | 9:00 PM – 7:00 AM, except Fridays and Saturdays when the evening boundary moves to 11:00 PM | Plainly-audible standard |
Most cities route noise through 311 for ongoing sources and through police non-emergency for active disturbances such as parties. Both go better with a record. Measure with the online decibel meter, note the date, time, duration, and where you measured from, and measure the background level before the noise starts if your city uses a relative standard.
A phone microphone is accurate to roughly ±2 dB and is not a calibrated instrument. It is well suited to establishing a pattern and deciding whether to escalate — not to producing evidence for an enforcement hearing, which needs a calibrated meter.
Every city summary on this site links to the municipal code it came from and shows the date it was last checked. Codes are amended often — confirm against the source before relying on a figure. None of this is legal advice.