Bloomington, IL Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Bloomington's noise ordinance, City Code § 28-194 (Ch. 28, Sec. 107, amended by Ordinance No. 2024-083 on November 12, 2024), sets a numeric decibel ceiling in Subsection E. It provides that no person shall make, continue, or cause to be made or continued or allow to be made on premises under the person's ownership or control any continuous, predictable or recurring source of sound in a manner that creates a sound pressure level, measured on a sound level meter using the A-weighting network, at or within the property limits of the receiving property, exceeding 70 dB(A).

The measurement point is the receiving property, meaning the neighbor's side of the line, not the source. The section requires that anyone testifying about electronic measurements use procedures for the measurement of sound that conform to the standards and recommended practices established by the American National Standards Institute, so a citation based on a meter reading has to follow ANSI protocol to hold up. The decibel cap operates alongside, not instead of, the general prohibition in Subsection C and the specific-act list in Subsection D, giving Bloomington two ways to prove a violation: witness testimony that a sound is loud and raucous, or an ANSI-compliant meter reading over 70 dB(A).

Subsection F exempts sirens and alarms, emergency repairs, permitted outdoor events, school and playground activities, City-sponsored events, and sounds measured inside a manufacturing district's own boundary. The Bloomington Police Department enforces the standard, and Subsection G sets the penalty at not less than $100 for a first offense and not less than $250 for each subsequent offense, with each day of a continuing violation treated as a separate offense.