Noise ordinances › Long Beach, CA

Long Beach noise ordinance: quiet hours, limits and complaints

Last updated: September 20, 2026

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Quiet hours in Long Beach

Night is 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. Table A drops the exterior standard from 50 to 45 dBA in District One (predominantly residential) and from 60 to 55 dBA in District Two (mixed-use or predominantly commercial); Table C drops the interior standard from 45 to 35 dBA in residential units and 50 to 45 in mixed-use. The same window appears in Sec. 8.80.200: radios, televisions, musical instruments and similar devices may not create a noise disturbance across a residential or commercial property line between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. (A), nor loudspeakers across a residential line (B), nor loading and unloading of boxes, crates, building materials or garbage cans (E), nor domestic power tools such as saws, sanders, drills, grinders and lawn or garden tools (M); powered model vehicles are barred from 7:00 p.m. (I). Construction under a building permit (8.80.202) is barred from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. on weekdays and federal holidays, from 7:00 p.m. Friday to 9:00 a.m. Saturday and after 6:00 p.m. Saturday, and all day Sunday unless the Noise Control Officer issues a Sunday permit (then only 9:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.); emergency work authorized by the Building Official is excepted, and the harbor district is outside the section. Outside these windows, and at any hour, Sec. 8.80.130's reasonable-person test applies.

Decibel limits

Yes, a full table. Sec. 8.80.150 with Table A (8.80.160): exterior limits measured from any other property, by receiving land use district: District One (predominantly residential) 50 dBA day (7 a.m.–10 p.m.) and 45 dBA night (10 p.m.–7 a.m.); District Two (mixed-use or predominantly commercial) 60 / 55 dBA; District Three (industrial) 65 dBA and District Four 70 dBA at any time, intended for their boundaries; District Five (airport, freeways, waterways) regulated by other agencies. The standard may be exceeded in any hour by 0 dB for a cumulative 30 minutes, +5 for 15 minutes, +10 for 5 minutes, +15 for 1 minute and +20 never; each limit is cut by 5 dB for a steady tone (whine, screech, hum), repetitive noise (hammering, riveting) or music or speech with informational content (8.80.160), and raised in 5 dB steps where the ambient already exceeds it (8.80.150 C); on a boundary between districts the limit is the mean of the two (D). Sec. 8.80.170 with Table C: interior limits inside the receiving dwelling with windows in normal seasonal position, residential 45 dBA day / 35 dBA night, mixed-use 50 / 45, schools in session 45, hospitals and designated noise-sensitive zones 40 at any time, exceeded for no more than 5 minutes an hour (+5 dB for 1 minute, +10 dB never). Measurement (8.80.140): A-weighted, slow response, at the complainant's property line nearest the source, microphone 5 feet high and 10 feet from reflective surfaces, indoors 4 feet from any wall, meter calibrated before and after; the Noise Control Officer follows the California Office of Noise Control enforcement manual. A source on public space is judged at 50 feet (8.80.200 A.2). Alongside the numbers, 8.80.130 keeps a reasonable-person nuisance test with nine factors, and "noise disturbance" (8.80.020) is any sound that annoys or disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensitivities.

What the ordinance actually says

Sec. 8.80.150 B: "No person shall operate or cause to be operated any source of sound at any location within the incorporated limits of the City or allow the creation of any noise on property owned, leased, occupied, or otherwise controlled by such person, which causes the noise level when measured from any other property, either incorporated or unincorporated, to exceed: 1. The noise standard for that land use district as specified in Table A in Section 8.80.160 for a cumulative period of more than thirty (30) minutes in any hour; or 2. The noise standard plus five (5) decibels for a cumulative period of more than fifteen (15) minutes in any hour; or 3. The noise standard plus ten (10) decibels for a cumulative period of more than five (5) minutes in any hour; or 4. The noise standard plus fifteen (15) decibels for a cumulative period of more than one (1) minute in any hour; or 5. The noise standard plus twenty (20) decibels or the maximum measured ambient, for any period of time."

Sec. 8.80.160 (Table A, District One): "Night: 10:00 p.m.—7:00 a.m. 45; Day: 7:00 a.m.—10:00 p.m. 50" (dBA); District Two: "Night: 10:00 p.m.—7:00 a.m. 55; Day: 7:00 a.m.—10:00 p.m. 60"; District Three "Any time 65"; District Four "Any time 70."

Sec. 8.80.160: "In the event that alleged offensive noise contains a steady audible tone such as a whine, screech, or hum, or is a repetitive noise such as hammering or riveting or contains music or speech conveying informational content, the standard limits set forth in Table A shall be reduced by five (5) decibels."

Sec. 8.80.130 A: "Notwithstanding any other provision of this Chapter, and in addition thereto, it is unlawful for any person to willfully make or continue, or cause to be made or continued, a loud, unnecessary or unusual noise which disturbs the peace and quiet of any neighborhood or which causes any discomfort or annoyance to any reasonable person of normal sensitiveness residing in the area."

Sec. 8.80.200 A: "Radios, television sets, musical instruments and similar devices. Operating, playing or permitting the operation or playing of any radio, television set, phonograph, drum, musical instrument, or similar device which produces or reproduces sound: 1. Between the hours of ten p.m. and seven a.m. the following day in such a manner as to create a noise disturbance across a residential or commercial real property line or at any time to violate the provisions of Sections 8.80.150 or 8.80.170 except for activities for which a variance has been issued by the noise control office"

Sec. 8.80.202 A: "Weekdays and federal holidays. No person shall operate or permit the operation of any tools or equipment used for construction, alteration, repair, remodeling, drilling, demolition or any other related building activity which produce loud or unusual noise which annoys or disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensitivity between the hours of seven p.m. and seven am. the following day on weekdays, except for emergency work authorized by the Building Official. For purposes of this Section, a federal holiday shall be considered a weekday."

Sec. 8.80.202 C: "Sundays. No person shall operate or permit the operation of any tools or equipment used for construction, alteration, repair, remodeling, drilling, demolition or any other related building activity at any time on Sunday, except for emergency work authorized by the Building Official or except for work authorized by permit issued by the Noise Control Officer."

Quoted verbatim from the official codified text (Long Beach Municipal Code, Title 8 "Health and Safety," Chapter 8.80 "Noise": 8.80.010 policy, 8.80.020 definitions, 8.80.030–8.80.120 administration (Noise Control Officer and city departments), 8.80.130 disturbing noises prohibited, 8.80.140 noise measurement procedure, 8.80.150 exterior noise limits by receiving land use district, 8.80.160 correction for character of sound and Table A, 8.80.170 interior noise limits and Table C (both tables amended by ORD-23-0027 in 2023), 8.80.190–8.80.200 noise disturbances (acts specified), 8.80.202 construction activity, 8.80.210 refuse collection vehicles, 8.80.220–8.80.240 vehicles, 8.80.250–8.80.340 exemptions and variances, 8.80.370–8.80.380 enforcement and penalties. Chapter originally Ord. C-5371 (1977). Text read on Municode (the City's code host) 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 Long Beach

Per longbeach.gov, Health Department, "Noise Control Program": "To report a noise disturbance which requires an immediate Police response dial 9-1-1"; "To report a non-emergency noise disturbance, please call the Police at (562) 435-6711"; for the Noise Control Program's own process call the Noise Complaint Hotline at (562) 570-4126 to register the disturbance, and if it continues two weeks after both parties are notified, file the online noise complaint form marked "second complaint"; the office answers (562) 570-4132 Monday–Friday 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. and EnvironmentalHealth@longbeach.gov. Construction noise has its own page under Building Inspection (longbeach.gov, "Construction Noise"), and Sec. 8.80.202 F lets a police officer enforce the construction hours directly. Under Sec. 8.80.140 the Noise Control Officer investigates complaints with a meter; the chapter is administered by the Health Department's noise control office (8.80.030–8.80.050).

Step by step, with what to log and what to expect after you file: how to file a noise complaint in Long Beach. 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) Long Beach's residential limits are among the lowest quoted for a large US city (45 dBA at night outdoors, 35 dBA indoors), but they are hourly standards with a duration ladder, so a brief 65 dBA burst at night is lawful while a steady 46 dBA for half an hour is not; and music or speech loses 5 dB, so a stereo's practical night limit at the fence is 40 dBA. (2) Where the ambient is already above a category, the limit rises to meet it (8.80.150 C), and a property on the line between two districts gets the average of the two (D). (3) Construction hours are unusually tight and asymmetric: weekdays 7 a.m.–7 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.–6 p.m., Sunday nothing without a Noise Control Officer permit, federal holidays count as weekdays, and a prosecuted employee can have the contractor or landowner joined as co-defendant; the harbor district is exempt (8.80.202). (4) Sec. 8.80.290 takes several everyday sources out of the exterior table entirely (street vendors, animals, non-emergency bells, alarms, domestic power tools, air conditioners, refuse trucks), so those are judged by their own hour rules and the nuisance test, not by Table A. (5) Any gathering, dance, show or sporting or entertainment event held under a City permit or license is exempt from the whole chapter (8.80.280). (6) The vibration rule uses a perception threshold of 0.001 g below 30 Hz (8.80.200 G), and exterior alarms must cut off within 15 minutes (K.3). (7) Sources on public space are measured at 50 feet rather than at a property line (8.80.200 A.2), model vehicles at 100 feet (I.2). (8) The 2023 amendment (ORD-23-0027) rewrote both tables; older summaries may carry different district numbers or interior levels. (9) Enforcement is a Health Department function with a two-step complaint process (hotline, then a second complaint after two weeks), while the police handle disturbances in progress and the construction section.

Document it before you report it

Long Beach's limits are measured numbers, so a reading is direct evidence of how loud it really is. 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 Long Beach noise map. For time-stamped measurement history you can show a landlord or code officer, the app keeps a log.