Indio, CA Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Unlike some California cities that publish a table of daytime/nighttime decibel limits by zoning district, the City of Indio's noise code (Indio Municipal Code Chapter 95C) is built mainly around a qualitative and 'plainly audible' standard, not numeric dBA caps for general noise. Section 95C.03(A) prohibits any disturbing, excessive or offensive noise that annoys a reasonable person of normal sensitivity or is 'plainly audible at a distance greater than 50 feet from the source point.' Section 95C.04(B) restates the 50-foot 'plainly audible' test for radios, instruments and amplifiers. The one place the code states an explicit decibel number is for sound trucks: under Section 95C.06(F)(8), sound-amplifying equipment on a sound truck 'shall not exceed a threshold sound output of 70 decibels when measured at a distance of ten feet,' and 95C.06(F)(7) caps power at 15 watts in the last stage of amplification, with audibility limited to 50 feet. For longer-term, community-scale noise such as traffic and railroad noise, Section 95C.09(A) directs that those be measured under the General Plan Noise Element using the Community Noise Equivalent Level (CNEL) method rather than the Chapter 95C disturbance test. So in practice, residents and businesses should expect Indio to enforce noise by the 50-foot audibility/disturbance standard for most complaints, reserving the 70 dB number specifically for sound trucks.