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Noise ordinances › Cleveland, OH
Cleveland noise ordinance: quiet hours, limits and complaints
Cleveland, OH regulates noise under Cleveland Codified Ordinances. Quiet hours: 7:00 p.m. – 7:00 a.m. (construction and unnecessary noise within 500 ft of homes). There is no general citywide decibel limit: the numeric limits that exist apply only to specific sources. Below: the exact code language, who actually takes complaints, and a link to the official text.
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Documenting this? A dated log of when the noise started, when it stopped and how loud it got is what Cleveland acts on. Log noise levels for a complaint — free, runs in your browser, records no audio.
| Quiet hours | 7:00 p.m. – 7:00 a.m. (construction and unnecessary noise within 500 ft of homes) |
|---|---|
| Limit type | No general dB limit — audibility / nuisance standard |
| Headline limit | Cleveland sets no general dB limit. Music is illegal when it is "plainly audible" to anyone outside the room it is played in (or outside the car), and construction, demolition and other unnecessary noise is barred from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. within 500 feet of homes |
| Official code | Cleveland Codified Ordinances |
Quiet hours in Cleveland
The only citywide window is in Sec. 605.10(b)(8): between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. it is an offense to make any unnecessary noise, or to perform any construction or demolition activity or run any mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic or battery-powered construction apparatus, within 500 feet of a place of residence; within 150 feet of a hospital, school, courthouse or church the ban applies during the hours those institutions are in use, and that 150-foot radius is a signed "zone of quiet." Two narrower clocks sit beside it: compressed-air tools must be muffled unless they are jackhammers used on weekdays between 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. (b)(6), and steam whistles and steam-pressure cleaning with the windows open are barred 7:00 p.m.–7:00 a.m. (b)(4). Music has no hours at all: Secs. 683.01 and 683.02 apply around the clock, and Sec. 605.10(a)'s reasonable-person standard applies at any time of day. Emergency utility repairs are exempt, and a contractor may ask the Director of Public Safety for permission to work outside the allowed hours (605.10(c)).
Decibel limits — or rather, the lack of them
There are none. Neither Sec. 605.10 nor Chapter 683 contains a decibel figure, a sound-level table or a measurement procedure; the words "decibel" and "dB" do not appear in either. The standard is audibility and reasonableness. Sec. 683.01(a) prohibits playing a radio, music player, television, audio system or musical instrument "at a volume which is plainly audible to persons other than those who are in the room in which such device or instrument is played and who are voluntary listeners thereto," or so as to disturb the quiet, comfort or repose of neighbors; Sec. 683.02 applies the same test to a motor vehicle, "plainly audible to persons other than the occupants of said vehicle." Sec. 605.10(a) covers everything else: "any unreasonably loud, disturbing and unnecessary noise, or noises of such character, intensity or duration as to be detrimental to the life and health of any individual, or unreasonably disturb the quiet, comfort, or repose of neighboring inhabitants." Animals count when their noise "can be distinctly heard outside the property line" (605.10(b)(2)). The Police Division's own FAQ states the rule the same way. Do not attribute a decibel number to Cleveland's noise ordinance.
What the ordinance actually says
Sec. 605.10(a): "No person shall make, or cause, suffer, allow, or permit to be made within the City any unreasonably loud, disturbing and unnecessary noise, or noises of such character, intensity or duration as to be detrimental to the life and health of any individual, or unreasonably disturb the quiet, comfort, or repose of neighboring inhabitants."
Sec. 605.10(b)(8): "The making of any unnecessary noise by a person or by his or her operation of any instrument, device, agency or vehicle, and/or the performance of any construction or demolition activity or the operation of any mechanical, electrical, pneumatically, hydraulically powered or battery operated apparatus used in connection with any construction or demolition activity between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. within five hundred (500) feet of places of residence and one hundred fifty (150) feet of any portion of the grounds and premises on which is located a hospital or other institution reserved for the sick, aged or infirm, or within one hundred fifty (150) feet of any school, courthouse, church or building in which religious services are held, during school hours, hours of holding court or hours of public worship, respectively."
Sec. 683.01(a): "No person shall play any radio, music player, television, audio system or musical instrument in such a manner or at such volume as to annoy or disturb the quiet, comfort or repose of neighboring inhabitants or at a volume which is plainly audible to persons other than those who are in the room in which such device or instrument is played and who are voluntary listeners thereto."
Sec. 683.02: "No person shall play any radio, music player or audio system in a motor vehicle at such volume as to disturb the quiet, comfort or repose of other persons or at a volume which is plainly audible to persons other than the occupants of said vehicle."
Sec. 605.10(d): "Whoever violates any of divisions (b)(1) through (b)(8) of this section is guilty of making unnecessary noise, a minor misdemeanor, and shall be fined pursuant to Section 601.99, which fine shall not be suspended, waived or otherwise reduced. Whoever violates this section within twelve (12) hours of having been charged with the minor misdemeanor of making unnecessary noise or of having been warned by a police officer to desist from making unnecessary noise is guilty of making unnecessary noise, a misdemeanor of the fourth degree, and shall be fined pursuant to Section 601.99 which fine shall not be suspended, waived, or otherwise reduced."
Sec. 683.99(a): "Whoever violates any of the provisions of this chapter shall be guilty of a fourth degree misdemeanor and, upon a first offense, shall be fined two hundred and fifty dollars ($250.00), which fine shall not be suspended, waived or otherwise reduced below that amount, and subject to up to thirty (30) days in jail. In addition, the equipment or device used in the commission of a violation of Section 683.01 or 683.02 shall be seized and disposed of under RC Chapter 2981."
Quoted verbatim from the official codified text (Cleveland Codified Ordinances, Part Six "Offenses and Business Activities Code": Title I, Chapter 605 "Disorderly Conduct and Activity," Sec. 605.10 "Unnecessary Noise" (Ord. No. 899-08, eff. 6-16-08), subsections (a) general prohibition, (b)(1)–(10) enumerated noises including (b)(8) construction and unnecessary noise 7:00 p.m.–7:00 a.m. and the 150-foot "zone of quiet," (c) emergency and Director of Public Safety exemptions, (d)–(g) penalties; and Title VII, Chapter 683 "Sound Devices" (Ord. No. 2487-A-89, eff. 6-27-90, as amended), Secs. 683.01 (playing of sound devices prohibited; when), 683.02 (sound devices in motor vehicles), 683.03–683.05 (vehicle-mounted amplifiers, license and permit), 683.06–683.08 (commercial sound permits), 683.99 (penalty). Related: Sec. 605.12 (mufflers on engines) and Sec. 601.99 (fine schedule). Text read on American Legal Publishing (the City's code host, 2026 S-28) on 2026-09-20.). Verified against the live code on 2026-09-20. Ordinances get amended — before acting on a specific provision, check the linked official code. This page is a plain-language summary, not legal advice.
How to file a noise complaint in Cleveland
Call the Cleveland Division of Police non-emergency line, 216-621-1234, for music or a party in progress (the Division's FAQ: "Is loud music coming from cars or homes illegal? Yes. The law defines loud music as 'plainly audible to persons other than those who are in the room in which such device or instrument is played (683.01)'; or 'plainly audible to persons other than the occupants of said vehicle (683.02).' Police may warn or cite offenders and confiscate the equipment or source of loud music."). For non-emergency city services and to log an ongoing problem, Cleveland 311 answers around the clock at 3-1-1 or 216-664-2000 (clevelandohio.gov/311). Use 9-1-1 only for an emergency. Because the test is audibility, a useful report states where you were standing when the music was plainly audible and the time; no meter reading is taken. Repeat construction noise outside 7:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m. near homes is a Sec. 605.10(b)(8) matter for the police and the Director of Public Safety, who issues any after-hours exemptions.
Step by step, with what to log and what to expect after you file: how to file a noise complaint in Cleveland. For the general playbook — documenting the problem, talking to a landlord or HOA, when 311 beats 911 — see the noise complaints guide.
Worth knowing
(1) The music rule is a room test, not a property-line test: under Sec. 683.01 a stereo audible in the next room of the same house can already be a violation, and the police FAQ quotes exactly that language. (2) Cleveland's night begins at 7:00 p.m., earlier than the 10 p.m. most cities use, but the window in 605.10(b)(8) reaches only construction, demolition and "unnecessary noise" within 500 feet of a residence; it is not a music curfew, because music is governed by Chapter 683 at all hours. (3) The 150-foot "zone of quiet" around hospitals, schools, courthouses and churches is signed by the Director of Public Safety and applies during the institution's hours, not at night. (4) Penalties escalate fast: a Sec. 683 first offense is a fourth-degree misdemeanor with a fixed $250 fine that courts may not reduce, up to 30 days in jail, and mandatory seizure of the equipment; a repeat is a third-degree misdemeanor, $500 and up to 60 days; an organization pays $2,000 (683.99). An ordinary 605.10 violation is a minor misdemeanor that becomes a fourth-degree misdemeanor if repeated within 12 hours of a charge or a police warning (605.10(d)), and a 683 or fireworks violation charged under 605.10 becomes a third-degree misdemeanor if repeated within 36 hours of a warning (605.10(f)). (5) Fireworks are folded into the noise section (605.10(b)(10)), with a heavier penalty between Memorial Day and Labor Day (605.10(g)). (6) Vehicle-mounted loudspeakers need a $50 annual license plus a $10 per-use permit specifying date, time, place and purpose (683.03–683.04), and commercial sound promotion needs a $25 permit capped at 14 consecutive days and 30 days a year per location (683.06–683.07). (7) Sec. 605.10(c) exempts emergency utility work outright and lets the Director of Public Safety grant construction exemptions on request, so overnight roadwork with a permit is lawful. (8) Every engine in the city must have a muffler (605.12), a minor misdemeanor separate from the noise section.
Document it before you report it
Cleveland enforces mostly by audibility, but a log of measured levels still makes a complaint concrete and credible. Take a reading right here: the meter below runs in your browser and records nothing, and stopping it saves a dated report. Check how loud your block is on the Cleveland noise map. For time-stamped measurement history you can show a landlord or code officer, the app keeps a log.
