Decibel Chart

Decibel levels of common sounds

Typical levels published by the CDC, NIH (NIDCD) and the World Health Organization. Where they give a range, the time is for the loud end, using the NIOSH recommended limit of 85 dBA for 8 hours, halved for every 3 dB. Your distance from the source changes the level a lot, so treat these as typical values, not measurements of your lawn mower.

We left out sounds like vacuum cleaners and blenders because none of these agencies publishes a figure for them. A free sound meter app, such as NIOSH's own Sound Level Meter app for iPhone, which both NIDCD and the WHO point to, will tell you how loud yours are.

How loud is 85 decibels?

About as loud as heavy traffic heard from inside a car, which is the WHO's example for 85 dB. It's also the low end of the CDC's ranges for lawn mowers and motorcycles. 85 dBA is where hearing risk starts to count: NIOSH calls exposures at and above it hazardous, the CDC says exposures above 85 dB can be hazardous, and OSHA requires employers to run a hearing conservation program from an 8-hour average of 85 dBA.

• NIOSH:8 h a day. That's the recommended exposure limit itself.
• OSHA: 85 dBA is OSHA's action level. Its legal limit starts at 90 dBA, so 85 dBA by itself doesn't break it.
• WHO: 12 hours 30 minutes a week of listening, in the WHO's own table.

A quick test from NIDCD and the WHO: if you have to raise your voice for someone an arm's length away to hear you, the noise is too loud.

How loud is 100 decibels?

Hair-dryer loud, by the WHO's example, and the top of the CDC's range for lawn mowers. Sports events, rock concerts and headphones at full volume all reach 100 dB and more. Safe time at 100 dB is short:

• NIOSH: 15 min a day.
• OSHA: 2 h a day.
• WHO: 20 minutes a week of listening.

NIDCD puts it more bluntly: noise of 100 dBA that lasts at least 14 minutes is likely to damage your hearing.

How loud is 120 decibels?

As loud as standing near a siren (the WHO's example), in the middle of the CDC's 110 to 129 dB range for fire truck, police and ambulance sirens. The CDC says hearing loss from sirens can happen in less than a minute.

• NIOSH: 9 s a day.
• OSHA: not permitted. OSHA's table of permissible exposures stops at 115 dBA for a quarter hour or less.
• WHO: 12 seconds a week.

At 140 dB, the level of an airplane taking off or the low end of fireworks, NIOSH sets a ceiling that no exposure should exceed, and OSHA caps impulse noise such as gunshots at 140 dB peak.

Safe noise exposure time by decibel level

NIOSH and OSHA times are per day; the WHO figure is a weekly listening allowance for adults. Example sounds are those whose published range includes that level.

"No daily limit" means the formula allows more than 24 hours. Below 80 dBA, NIOSH's table doesn't list a time, and OSHA's hearing conservation rules only count sound from 80 to 130 dB when measuring exposure.

NIOSH vs. OSHA noise limits

OSHA's limit is the law for US employers. NIOSH's is a recommendation from the federal research agency, and it's stricter, because it halves the safe time every 3 dB instead of every 5 dB.

The excess-risk figures are from NIOSH's 1998 criteria document. OSHA's own 85 dBA action level triggers monitoring, hearing tests and protectors for workers, but the 90 dBA limit is the one employers must keep exposures under.

What is a safe noise level?

An average of 70 dB or less over the whole day. The EPA identified a 24-hour average of 70 decibels as the level that prevents any measurable hearing loss over a lifetime, and NIDCD says it's currently considered safe for most people if all the sounds you hear in a day average 70 dBA or lower. For annoyance and getting a conversation or sleep in, the EPA's levels are lower: 55 dB outdoors and 45 dB indoors.

These are averages of sound energy over time, so a few louder moments don't break them as long as enough of the day is quiet. Some people are more sensitive than others, and NIDCD notes that some workers get hearing damage below 85 dBA.

Why decibels are logarithmic

Decibels don't add up like inches. Each step of 10 dB is 10 times the sound intensity, though NIDCD notes that it only seems about twice as loud to your ears. And every 3 dB doubles the sound energy, which is why NIOSH halves the safe time with each 3 dB.

• +3 dB: twice the sound energy, half the safe time.
• +10 dB:10 times the energy; seems about twice as loud.
• +20 dB:100 times the energy, so 100 dB carries 100 times the energy of 80 dB.

Adding decibels

Two sounds together are louder than either one, but not by the sum of their decibels. Two 90 dB machines make about 93 dB, not 180. The combined level is 10 × log₁₀(10^L1/10 + 10^L2/10). The quieter sound adds less the further it is below the louder one:

Safe headphone volume

The WHO and ITU's safe listening standard for phones and music players sets the weekly sound allowance at the energy of 80 dBA for 40 hours a week for adults, and 75 dB for 40 hours for children and other sensitive listeners. Because it counts energy, 3 dB louder halves the time: 83 dB for about 20 hours, 86 dB for about 10. The WHO's own examples are 90 dB for 4 hours a week and 100 dB for 20 minutes.

That matters because headphones go far past it. The CDC lists music through headphones at the highest volume at 96 to 110 dB, and NIDCD says headphones can be 110 dBA at maximum. The WHO's practical advice:

• Keep the volume at no more than 60% of maximum.
• If you track your listening with an app, keep the average below 80 dB.
• Prefer phones and headphones with sound exposure monitoring and volume limiting, and parental volume limits for children.
• Use well-fitted, noise cancelling headphones so you don't turn the volume up to drown out a noisy room.

How much does noise cancelling help?

It helps mostly by letting you listen at a lower volume. Active noise cancelling uses microphones to pick up outside sound and plays an opposing signal to cancel it, which works best on steady low-pitched noise like engine hum. Higher-pitched sound is blocked mainly by the seal of the ear cushions or ear tips.

Apple is the only maker we found that publishes a decibel figure, because its earbuds have a Hearing Protection feature. Apple's data sheets estimate total attenuation, derived from the ANSI/ASA S12.68 hearing-protector standard, for most users (80%) up to proficient users (20%) in 90 to 110 dBA of sustained noise:

Apple works out exposure by subtraction: at a 100 dBA concert, 26 dB of attenuation leaves about 74 dBA at your ear, which the WHO allows for 159 h 15 min a week. Apple also says attenuation is lower in noise dominated by frequencies above 2,000 Hz, drops with a poor fit, and that the feature isn't suitable for sustained sound above 110 dBA or for impulse sounds such as gunfire, fireworks or jackhammers.

We didn't find a published decibel figure for the noise cancelling on the over-ear headphones in our guide, so we can't put a number on them. The Sony WH-1000XM6, Bose QuietComfort Headphones and Soundcore Space One are our noise cancelling picks, and the AirPods Pro 3 are in our wireless earbud guide. For loud work or shooting, use earplugs or earmuffs rated for it.

How this chart works

• Sound levels are typical values published by the CDC, NIDCD and the WHO, copied as given. They differ a little between agencies; where they do, the table shows the US agency's range and notes the other. NIDCD and NIOSH use A-weighted decibels (dBA), which weight sound by how well human ears hear each pitch; the CDC and WHO examples are labeled dB.
• NIOSH times use its formula T = 480 ÷ 2^{(L − 85) / 3} minutes, which reproduces NIOSH's Table 1-1 (for example, 2 hours at 91 dBA and 15 minutes at 100 dBA). Above 140 dBA, NIOSH allows no exposure.
• OSHA times use the formula in Table G-16a of 29 CFR 1910.95 Appendix A, T = 8 ÷ 2^{(L − 90) / 5} hours, and stop at 115 dBA, where OSHA's Table G-16 ends.
• WHO weekly times apply the WHO-ITU standard's equal-energy rule to its adult allowance of 80 dBA for 40 hours: 40 × 10^{(80 − L) / 10} hours. Over a week's worth of hours, we show "Unlimited". The WHO's published table differs slightly on a few: 12 h 30 min at 85 dB, 20 minutes at 100 dB and 12 seconds at 120 dB, where the formula gives 12 h 39 min, 24 min and 14 s. The sections above quote the WHO's figures.
• Combined sounds are added as energy: 10 × log₁₀ of the sum of 10^L/10.

These limits are for preventing hearing loss over time, not a guarantee for any one person. Sources were checked on October 19, 2026.

Sources

1. CDC National Center for Environmental Health, Listen Up! Protect Your Hearing (infographic of common sounds in dB). www.cdc.gov/nceh/hearing_loss/infographic/
2. NIH National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (average dBA of familiar sounds; 70 and 85 dBA thresholds). www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/noise-induced-hearing-loss
3. NIDCD, How Loud Is Too Loud? (+10 dB seems about twice as loud and is 10 times more intense; 85 dBA, 100 dBA for 14 minutes, 110 dBA for 2 minutes; headphones up to 110 dBA). www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/how-loud-too-loud
4. World Health Organization, Deafness and hearing loss: Safe listening (questions and answers, 6 March 2026; sound examples and weekly safe listening times). www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/deafness-and-hearing-loss-safe-listening
5. WHO and ITU (2019). Safe listening devices and systems: a WHO-ITU global standard (adult mode 1.6 Pa²h a week from 80 dBA for 40 hours; sensitive users 0.51 Pa²h from 75 dB for 40 hours). www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Digital-Inclusion/Documents/Safe_listening_standard.pdf
6. ITU-T Recommendation H.870 (03/2022), Guidelines for safe listening devices/systems (summary; adult and child criteria based on the equal-energy principle). www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-t/rec/h/T-REC-H.870-202203-I!!SUM-HTM-E.htm
7. NIOSH (1998). Criteria for a Recommended Standard: Occupational Noise Exposure, Revised Criteria 1998, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 98-126 (REL 85 dBA 8-hr TWA, 3-dB exchange rate, Table 1-1, 140 dBA ceiling). www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/98-126/pdfs/CriteriaDoc_98-126.pdf
8. OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.95 Occupational noise exposure (Table G-16 permissible noise exposures; 85 dBA action level; 140 dB peak for impulse noise). www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.95
9. OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.95 Appendix A, Noise exposure computation (Table G-16a, T = 8 / 2^((L − 90) / 5)). www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.95AppA
10. US EPA (1974). EPA Identifies Noise Levels Affecting Health and Welfare (70 dB over 24 hours to prevent measurable hearing loss; 55 dB outdoors and 45 dB indoors). www.epa.gov/archive/epa/aboutepa/epa-identifies-noise-levels-affecting-health-and-welfare.html
11. Apple, Hearing Protection Data Sheet, AirPods Pro 3 (A3063, A3064), June 2026, US/ANSI version (total attenuation by listening mode, passive NRR 12). regulatoryinfo.apple.com/cwt/api/ext/file?fileId=hearingProtection%2FA3063_A3064_HP_DS_ANSI_EN-ES_US_1783082917556.pdf
12. Apple, Hearing Protection Data Sheet, AirPods Pro 2, Rev A, October 2024 (total attenuation by listening mode, passive NRR 10). images.apple.com/airpods-pro/pdf/Hearing_Protection_data_sheet_October_2024.pdf
13. Apple Support, Use Hearing Protection with your AirPods Pro 2 or AirPods Pro 3 (attenuation depends on fit, volume and listening mode; not for sustained sound over 110 dBA). support.apple.com/en-us/120850