Portland noise rules at a glance
- Governing code: Portland City Code, Title 18 (Noise Control)
- Quiet hours: Night hours are 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM, when every limit drops 5 dBA
- How violations are judged: Measured decibel limits
- Construction: Commercial construction equipment is limited to 85 dBA measured at 50 feet from the source
- Complaints: Portland Noise Control Program
How Portland decides what counts as too loud
Portland's limit depends on two zones at once — the zone the noise comes from and the zone it is heard in — so the same machine can be legal on one side of a street and not the other.
Noise limits in Portland
| Applies to | Daytime | Night |
|---|---|---|
| Residential source, residential receiver | 55 dBA at the property line, 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM | 50 dBA, 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM |
| Commercial or mixed-use source, residential receiver | 60 dBA | 55 dBA |
| Industrial source, residential receiver | 65 dBA | 60 dBA |
| Impulsive sources | 100 dB peak | 80 dB peak |
What's specific to Portland
- The adjustments stack: a steady or narrow-band sound loses another 5 dBA on top of the nighttime reduction, so a constant hum at night is judged 10 dBA below the daytime figure.
- Sound plainly audible inside a dwelling between 10:00 PM and 7:00 AM is separately prohibited, without any meter reading.
- Because the limit depends on the source zone, identifying what the noise is coming from matters as much as measuring it.
What Portland residents most often report
- Industrial and commercial equipment audible in adjoining residential zones, which is what the source/receiver grid is built for.
- Steady mechanical hum at night, which attracts both the 5 dBA night reduction and the 5 dBA narrow-band reduction.
- Construction equipment measured against the 85 dBA at 50 feet standard.
How to measure it in Portland
Establish two things before the number means anything: which zone the noise originates in and which zone you are standing in. Portland's Figure 1 is a grid of both, and quoting a single dBA reading without them proves nothing. Measure at the property line, and if the sound is a steady hum rather than something varying, say so — that alone moves the applicable limit down another 5 dBA.
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
Portland Noise Control Program 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 Portland
Portland runs a dedicated noise programme rather than folding noise into general code enforcement, which means complaints are handled by staff who work only on sound.
Sources
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.