Nashville noise rules at a glance
- Governing code: Metropolitan Code of Laws, § 11.12.070 (Excessive Noise), Nashville and Davidson County
- Quiet hours: Amplified sound in residential zones is restricted overnight; business and commercial activity has its own 9:00 PM restriction
- How violations are judged: Mixed standard
- Complaints: hubNashville (311)
How Nashville decides what counts as too loud
Nashville runs a plainly-audible standard for residential noise alongside an 85-decibel cap aimed squarely at the downtown bars — and exempts live music from that cap while applying it to recorded music.
Noise limits in Nashville
| Applies to | Daytime | Night |
|---|---|---|
| Establishment interior speakers, business hours | 85 decibels (A-weighted) measured at street level fifty feet from the outside wall | 70 decibels at the boundary of the nearest right-of-way or park outside business hours |
| Prerecorded and live music | Prerecorded music is held to the 85-decibel limit; live music is expressly exempt from it | Same distinction |
| Residential and park noise | Plainly audible at the boundary of the nearest residentially occupied property | Same test |
| Motor vehicle exhaust | Plainly audible at two hundred feet | Same test |
What's specific to Nashville
- The live-music exemption is the single most consequential line in the chapter, and it is why a Broadway venue and a bar playing records are treated differently at the same level.
- The 85-decibel reading is taken at street level fifty feet from the wall, not at the complainant's property, so the measurement point is unusually specific.
- Vehicle exhaust has its own 200-foot audibility test.
What Nashville residents most often report
- Downtown bar and honky-tonk noise, where the live-music exemption decides most disputes.
- Amplified sound audible at residential boundaries in neighbourhoods bordering entertainment districts.
- Modified vehicle exhaust, caught by the 200-foot test.
How to measure it in Nashville
For a venue, stand at street level and pace fifty feet from the outside wall — that is where the code takes its reading, and a measurement from anywhere else will not line up with the standard. Note whether the music was live or recorded, because the 85-decibel limit only binds recorded sound. For residential complaints the test reverts to plain audibility at your property boundary, so distance and timestamps matter more than the number.
Record levels with the free online decibel meter, and log the date, start time and duration with each reading. A phone microphone is accurate to roughly ±2 dB and is not a calibrated instrument — enough to establish a pattern, not enough for an enforcement hearing.
Turn your readings into something you can file
hubNashville (311) will ask when the noise happens and how long it lasts. A live decibel reading answers neither. Pro records a timestamped session — a ten-minute check or a full night — charts the whole thing, and exports a PDF with the dates, times, duration and the statistics that describe a pattern rather than a moment.
- Timestamped sessions with the recording timezone
- Leq and L10/L50/L90 background levels
- Print-ready PDF report, one click
- Your last 25 sessions, kept on your device
Measurements stay on your device on the subscription plans. A phone microphone is not a calibrated instrument — a session establishes a pattern, and this page is not legal advice.
How to file a noise complaint in Nashville
hubNashville is Metro's intake for noise reports and routes them to codes enforcement or to police depending on the source.
Sources
- Metropolitan Code of Laws, § 11.12.070 (Excessive Noise), Nashville and Davidson County
- Nashville — hubNashville (311)
Municipal codes are amended regularly and enforcement practice varies by neighbourhood and agency. This page summarises the code as of 2026-08-10 and is not legal advice — confirm against the linked code before relying on any figure, and consult a lawyer for a dispute.
Noise ordinances in other metros
See all US metro noise ordinances or read how many decibels is too loud.