Monterey Park, CA Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Section 4.50.080(a) makes it unlawful for any source of sound to exceed the noise level limits the section establishes, using whichever is greater of the property's actual measured median ambient noise level or the presumed ambient levels printed in the code's table: residential properties are capped at 50 dBA at night (ten p.m. to seven a.m.) and 55 dBA in the day, neighborhood commercial land uses at 60 dBA at any time, other commercial at 65 dBA, and industrial at 70 dBA. If the actual ambient noise at a location is not sufficiently determined, the table's presumed figures serve as the default (Section 4.50.080(b)), and where a receiving property sits on the boundary of two different land uses, the lower of the two applicable limits governs (Section 4.50.080(c)).

These limits are also dynamic: Section 4.50.090 tightens any of them by another five decibels when the complained-of sound carries a steady, audible tone, such as a whine, screech, or hum, rather than broadband noise. The table's numbers are the baseline for every other noise provision in the chapter, including the vehicle sound-amplifier rule, the residential quiet-hours standard, and the construction-noise hours, each of which cross-references these same dBA ceilings rather than setting its own.