Waukesha, WI Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

59, Performance Standards, regulates noise separately for two zoning categories. In manufacturing districts, the sound level measured at the district boundary or at any point inside an adjoining residential district cannot exceed 79 decibels in the lowest octave band (0 to 75 cycles per second), stepping down as frequency rises to 39 decibels above 4800 cycles per second. Every other zoning district in the city is held to the same 79-decibel ceiling at the bottom of the scale but a tighter standard at the top: no more than 32 decibels above 4800 cycles per second, measured at the lot line of the property producing the noise rather than at a district boundary.

Both scales use a sound level meter with an associated octave band filter, so enforcement is a metered reading, not a subjective judgment call. A separate Mitigation clause requires that any noise be muffled or otherwise controlled so it does not become objectionable because of how intermittent, long-lasting, rhythmic, sudden, repetitive, or shrill it is, which lets the City act on noise character even when a reading falls under the decibel table. Sirens, whistles, and bells used solely for a public purpose, such as emergency vehicles, fire alarms, or church bells, are expressly exempt from every sound level standard in the section, so those uses cannot be cited under this noise standard no matter how loud they measure.