Noise ordinances › Omaha, NE

Omaha noise ordinance: quiet hours, limits and complaints

Last updated: September 20, 2026

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Quiet hours in Omaha

Two clocks. In the noise chapter, Sec. 17-1 bars pile drivers, steam shovels, pneumatic hammers, derricks, hoists and other loud construction appliances between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., and Sec. 17-3's amplified-sound rules apply at all hours except that a permitted parade, assembly, athletic event, outdoor concert, play or special event is exempt from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. In the zoning performance standards, night runs from 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.: Table 1 in Sec. 55-804 lowers the maximum at a single-family or low-density residential receiving property (DR, R1–R5, R-WRN) from 60 to 55 dBA, at higher-density residential and office districts (R6–R8, MH, LO, GO) from 65 to 60, at commercial and mixed-use districts (LC, CC, NBD, GC, CBD, CH, MU) from 70 to 65, at DS and LI from 75 to 70, GI and AV 80 to 75, HI 85 to 80, and agricultural land 75 (6:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.) to 55. Construction and normal property maintenance are exempt from the zoning table between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. (55-804(d)(1)), which together with Sec. 17-1 leaves 9:00–10:00 p.m. as an hour when construction is measured against the table and 10:00 p.m.–7:00 a.m. as a flat ban on the listed equipment.

Decibel limits

Yes, but not in the noise chapter. Chapter 17 regulates amplified sound by audibility: Sec. 17-3 makes it unlawful to play any loudspeaker, amplifier, portable speaker, radio, instrument or music device on public property or in a vehicle on a street unless the sound is "not plainly audible for a distance in excess of 100 feet from the source" and not unreasonably loud, and on residential property unless it is "not plainly audible in any adjoining unit," the latter only after the neighbor has given actual notice; "plainly audible" means detectable by unaided hearing. The chapter's only decibel figures are for vehicles on the road (Sec. 17-25): 76 dB(A) for cars on streets posted 35 mph or less and 82 above, 82 / 86 for motorcycles, 86 / 90 for vehicles of 10,000 lb or more, measured at 50 feet from the curb line with a distance-correction table. The zoning code supplies the property-line table: Sec. 55-804 Table 1 sets maximum sound levels by the zoning of the receiving property, measured at or within its boundary (55-803(a)): 60 dBA day / 55 night for DR and R1–R5 residential districts, 65 / 60 for R6–R8, MH, LO and GO, 70 / 65 for commercial districts including the CBD and MU, 75 / 70 for DS and LI, 80 / 75 for GI and AV, 85 / 80 for HI, 75 / 55 for AG (day 7:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m., 6:00 a.m. for AG); noise between units of the same building gets 5 dBA more (55-803(a)); impulsive sound repeating four or more times an hour, expressly including musical bass or drum beats, is measured as continuous (55-804(b)); sound crossing into a quieter district must meet that district's limit (55-804(c)). Measurements are A-weighted on an ANSI S1.4 meter with an octave-band filter, with a windscreen or in winds under 15 mph (55-803). The table's footnote ties the levels to the EPA's 1974 recommended values.

What the ordinance actually says

Sec. 17-3(1): "Any public property, including any public street, highway, building, sidewalk, park or thoroughfare; or any motor vehicle on a public street, highway or public space unless the volume of amplified sound shall be so controlled that it will not be plainly audible for a distance in excess of 100 feet from the source and so that the volume is not unreasonably great and the noise, raucous, jarring, disturbing or a nuisance to persons within the area of audibility; or"

Sec. 17-3(2): "Residential property, whether a unit of a multiple-family residential dwelling or a single-family dwelling structure, unless the volume of amplified sound shall be so controlled that it will not be plainly audible in any adjoining unit. Provided, however, that actual notice from the occupant of the adjoining residence to the occupant of the property containing the source of amplified sound shall be a necessary element under this subsection."

Sec. 17-1: "It shall be unlawful for any person in the construction of buildings to operate between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. any pile driver, steam shovel, pneumatic hammer, derrick, steam or electric hoist or other appliance, the use of which is attended by loud or unusual noise."

Sec. 55-804(a), Table 1 (Maximum Permitted Sound Levels by Receiving Property): "DR, R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R-WRN — 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. 60; 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. 55. R6, R7, R8, MH, LO, GO — 65 / 60. LC, CC, NBD, GC, CBD, CH, MU — 70 / 65. DS, LI — 75 / 70. GI, AV — 80 / 75. HI — 85 / 80. AG — 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. 75; 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. 55" (dBA maximum).

Sec. 55-803(a): "Point of measurement. Noise shall be measured at or within the property boundary of the receiving property. 'Receiving property' shall mean the property subjected to, and to be protected from, the noise generated from another property. In multi-use buildings, when noise originates in one unit and is received in another unit within the same building, the maximum dB(A) for such noise shall be five dB(A) higher than the maximum dB(A) for the zoning district in which the building is located."

Sec. 55-804(b): "Impulsive sound which repeats four or more times in a one-hour period shall be measured as continuous sound and shall meet the requirements as shown in Table 1. Impulsive sound means sound pulses of short duration, usually less than one second, with an abrupt onset and rapid decay. Impulsive sound shall include, but shall not be limited to, explosions, musical bass or drum beats, the discharge of firearms, or the disintegration or other processing of materials."

Quoted verbatim from the official codified text (Omaha Municipal Code, Chapter 17 "Noise Control": Article I In General, Secs. 17-1 (construction equipment prohibited 10:00 p.m.–7:00 a.m.), 17-2 (mufflers for fans and engines), 17-3 (volume control: the 100-foot and adjoining-unit rules; Ord. No. 34037, 11-5-96, amended by Ord. No. 44687, 5-19-26); Article II Motor Vehicle Noise Control, Secs. 17-21 through 17-34 (definitions, the 50-foot dB(A) table in 17-25, measurement, penalty in 17-32, mufflers, compression brakes). Cross-referenced and read with it: Chapter 55 "Zoning," Article XVII "Performance Standards," Secs. 55-801–55-802 (purpose and compliance), 55-803 (measurement of noise), 55-804 (maximum permitted sound, Table 1; Ord. No. 39162, 11-22-11; Ord. No. 43098, 9-13-22). 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 Omaha

Per police.cityofomaha.org (OPD phone directory and reporting pages): the Omaha Police Department non-emergency switchboard is 402-444-5600, and non-emergency incidents can be reported by phone to the Telephone Report Squad at 402-444-4877 or through the OPD Citizen Online Reporting System; 9-1-1 for emergencies. Nuisance issues not handled by police go to the Mayor's Hotline at 402-444-5555. Chapter 17's vehicle article is enforced by the police department (Sec. 17-24), and the 17-3 residential rule requires that the neighbor first give the source's occupant actual notice, so tell the neighbor before calling. The zoning performance standards (55-804) are administered through the building official and Planning Department (55-802), which can require compliance information at permit or occupancy stage; a persistent mechanical or business source is a zoning-enforcement complaint rather than a police call.

Step by step, with what to log and what to expect after you file: how to file a noise complaint in Omaha. 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 noise chapter and the zoning code do different jobs: Chapter 17 is the police tool (audibility at 100 feet, or in the next unit), Chapter 55's performance standards are the land-use tool with the decibel table, and the 70 / 55 dBA figures quoted on secondary sites for Omaha match neither. (2) The residential rule in 17-3(2) cannot be enforced until the complaining neighbor has given the noisy occupant actual notice; that notice is "a necessary element," so a first call to police about an unwarned neighbor goes nowhere. (3) Sec. 17-3 was amended on May 19, 2026 (Ord. 44687), extending the list of devices to portable speakers and music players; read the current text rather than older copies. (4) The zoning night starts at 9:00 p.m., an hour before the 10:00 p.m. construction ban in 17-1, and the zoning limits are keyed to the receiving property's district with a 5 dBA allowance between units in the same building. (5) Bass is written into the zoning standard: repeated musical bass or drum beats count as continuous sound (55-804(b)). (6) Vehicle limits are on the road only, at 50 feet, by weight class and speed zone, on the fast response (17-25, 17-29), and jake brakes are banned on the interstates and four-lane streets with grades under five degrees (17-34). (7) Permitted outdoor events are exempt from the 100-foot rule from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. (17-3(4)) and from the zoning table outright (55-804(d)(8)); parks and schools, aircraft, city vehicles, emergency generators during outages and moving traffic are also outside the table. (8) Penalties for Chapter 17 fall under the Code's general penalty section (Sec. 1-10, via 17-32); the zoning standards are enforced through permits, certificates of occupancy and zoning enforcement rather than fines in the article.

Document it before you report it

Omaha'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 Omaha noise map. For time-stamped measurement history you can show a landlord or code officer, the app keeps a log.