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The loudest cities in Italy, ranked by noise exposure

Among Italy's 34 ranked agglomerations, Terni is the noisiest: its exposed population lives with Lden 55–75 dB of day-evening-night transport noise, #1 of all European cities measured. The typical Italy city in the list centres near Lden 57.5 dB.

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Italy agglomerations ranked by measured Lden transport-noise exposure (EU Environmental Noise Directive, 2022 round)
Italy # City Europe # Lden Lnight Source Population
1 Terni 1 55–75 50–70 Road 110,940
2 Messina 3 55–75 50–65 Road 220,094
3 Pescara 7 55–75 50–65 Road, Rail 119,445
4 Latina 11 55–75 55–65 Road 127,861
5 Reggio Emilia 31 55–70 50–65 Road 169,029
6 Bolzano 45 55–70 50–65 Road 107,879
7 Verona 46 55–70 50–65 Road 258,500
8 Sassari 48 55–70 50–60 Road 111,600
9 Genoa 84 55–70 50–65 Rail, Road 583,601
10 Brescia 93 55–70 50–65 Road 196,700
11 Prato 94 55–70 50–65 Road 200,647
12 Piacenza 113 55–70 50–65 Road 102,731
13 Cagliari 143 55–70 50–60 Road 342,810
14 Bologna 164 55–70 50–65 Road, Rail 488,742
15 Catania 179 50–70 50–65 Road 314,125
16 Turin 234 50–70 50–65 Road 1,334,575
17 Padua 258 45–70 40–60 Road 196,326
18 Trieste 265 45–70 40–60 Road 196,908
19 Bari 268 45–70 40–60 Road 316,227
20 Foggia 271 45–65 40–60 Road 146,406
21 Modena 272 45–70 40–60 Road 187,977
22 Florence 273 45–70 40–65 Road 359,755
23 Naples 274 45–70 40–65 Road 940,940
24 Taranto 275 45–65 40–60 Road 189,218
25 Milan-Monza 279 45–70 40–65 Road 2,312,197
26 Forli 281 45–70 40–60 Road 117,479
27 Parma 282 45–70 40–60 Road 200,218
28 Livorno 287 45–65 40–60 Road 143,683
29 Rome 289 45–70 40–60 Road 2,783,809
30 Perugia 291 45–70 40–60 Road 164,057
31 Rimini 293 45–70 40–60 Road 148,688
32 Venice 294 45–65 40–60 Road, Rail 255,609
33 Ferrara 306 50–60 45–50 Road 134,914
34 Ravenna 308 50–55 45–50 Road, Rail 160,509

Across Italy, 34 cities make the measured European ranking — 13,744,199 people combined. In order of Lden exposure: Terni (55–75 dB), Messina (55–75 dB), Pescara (55–75 dB), Latina (55–75 dB), Reggio Emilia (55–70 dB), Bolzano (55–70 dB), Verona (55–70 dB), Sassari (55–70 dB), then 26 more, down to Ravenna (50–55 dB). The midpoint sits near Lden 57.5 dB. Road traffic is the dominant source in all 34. The most populous, Rome at 2,783,809 residents, ranks #289 across Europe with exposed-resident Lden of 45–70 dB. The WHO road-traffic guideline is 53 dB Lden by day and 45 dB Lnight at night, which most of these Italy cities exceed for their noise-exposed residents.

Every range is reported exposure: the EEA's 2022 END dataset, counting people above the 55 dB Lden threshold from road, rail, aircraft and industrial sources — nothing modelled by us. Lnight, the night-time figure, is the level most closely tied to sleep disturbance, which is why the EU reports it separately from the daytime Lden. Open any Italy city below for its full figures, then measure your own street with the free live meter.

Which Italy cities are the noisiest?

By this EEA data the noisiest Italy cities are the same as the loudest, since "noisiest" here means measured road, rail, aircraft and industrial exposure: Terni, Messina, Pescara top the list, led by Terni at Lden 55–75 dB (road traffic). The full ranking is in the table above.

Italy noise: the numbers

  • 34 Italy agglomerations are in the measured European ranking — 4th-most of any country here.
  • Loudest: Terni at exposed-resident Lden 55–75 dB (European #1).
  • Quietest ranked: Ravenna at Lden 50–55 dB; median near Lden 57.5 dB.
  • Road traffic is the dominant source in 34 of the 34.
  • Combined population of the 34: 13,744,199.

How this ranking is measured

These are the same measurements behind the European ranking of all 314 cities — the EU Environmental Noise Directive strategic noise maps (road, rail, aircraft and industry), 2022 reporting round, harmonised by the European Environment Agency, with no estimation by us. Lden is the annual-average day-evening-night level; only residents above the 55 dB Lden threshold are reported, so the ranges describe the noise-exposed population.

How loud is your street?

Rankings describe city-wide exposure — your block is its own story. Check it with the free online decibel meter, or open any city above for its full figures.

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