Noise Ordinances in Waukesha, WI (2026)
5 verified noise ordinances for Waukesha, Wisconsin, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Quiet Hours
Waukesha declares any noise that unreasonably disturbs the peace and quiet of nearby persons a public nuisance affecting peace and safety, without setting fixed clock hours, and enforces it through the City's general nuisance penalty rather than a decibel meter.
Unreasonable Noise Nuisance in Waukesha
Some RestrictionsWaukesha Municipal Code § 12.05(10)
The following acts, omissions, places, conditions and things are declared to be public nuisances affecting peace and safety, but such enumeration shall not be construed to exclude other nuisances affecting public peace or safety coming within the provisions of §12.02 of this chapter: ... (Am. #37-91) Noise of any kind tending to unreasonably disturb the peace and quiet of persons in the vicinit...
Barking Dogs
Waukesha treats an animal or fowl that habitually howls, yelps, barks or crows enough to greatly annoy or disturb a neighborhood as a public nuisance, letting the City abate the problem and fine the owner under the general nuisance penalty rather than a separate noise ordinance.
Barking Dog Nuisance Rule in Waukesha
Some RestrictionsWaukesha Municipal Code § 12.05(11)
The following acts, omissions, places, conditions and things are declared to be public nuisances affecting peace and safety... ... The keeping or harboring of any animal or fowl which by frequent or habitual howling, yelping, barking, crowing or making of other noises shall greatly annoy or disturb a neighborhood or any considerable number of persons within the City. ... 12.15 Penalty. Except a...
Amplified Music & Outdoor Sound
Waukesha bans operating a sound truck, loudspeaker, radio, phonograph, calliope or any similar loud amplifier on a vehicle in streets and public places between 5 p.m. and 9 a.m., and bans it at any hour in congested, hospital, church or school areas, with a narrow Christmas-music exception.
Sound Truck and Amplified Sound Rules
Significant RestrictionsWaukesha Municipal Code § 11.18
PROHIBITION. No person shall play, use or operate on the public streets, alleys, etc., any device known as a sound truck, loud speaker or sound amplifier, or radio or phonograph with a loud speaker or sound amplifier, or any other instrument known as a calliope, or any instrument which emits therefrom loud and raucous noises, and is attached to a vehicle operated or standing upon the streets or...
Decibel Limits
Waukesha's zoning code sets numeric decibel ceilings by octave band, with a separate scale for manufacturing districts and a stricter one for every other zoning district, measured with a sound level meter and octave filter at the district boundary or the property's lot line.
Noise Decibel Limits in Waukesha
Some RestrictionsWaukesha Municipal Code § 22.59
NOISE. Manufacturing Districts. ... No activity in any manufacturing district shall produce a sound level outside the district boundary or at any point within an adjacent residential district that exceeds the following sound level measured by a sound level meter and associated octave level filter: ... 0 to 75 79 ... Above 4800 39 Other Districts. No noise in any other district other than a manu...
Vehicle Noise
Waukesha bans excessive acceleration that spins tires, throws gravel, or makes a loud noise that disturbs the peace, and separately bans Jake brakes, engine brakes, or other compression brakes on state trunk highways within the City. Municipal Code Section 7.03 covers both rules, with an emergency-vehicle exception for the compression-brake ban.
Vehicle Noise Rules in Waukesha
Some RestrictionsWaukesha Municipal Code § 7.03
ACCELERATING VEHICLES. No driver of any motor vehicle shall cause by excessive and unnecessary acceleration, the tires of such vehicle to spin and emit loud noises or throw stone or gravel, nor shall such driver cause to be made by excessive and unnecessary acceleration any loud noise such as would disturb the public peace. ... COMPRESSION BRAKES PROHIBITED. (Cr. #13-04) No operator of a motor ...
Looking for Waukesha County county-wide rules?
County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Waukesha city rules.
Noise Ordinances in Waukesha County →