Austin, TX Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)

Austin City Code Sec. 9-2-5 creates two separate, stackable limits for residential-zoned property. Subsection (B) bars anyone from using sound equipment that produces sound audible beyond the property line of a residence in a residential area between 10:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m., regardless of the decibel reading; if a neighbor can hear it past the property line during those hours, it violates the section. Subsection (C) then adds a decibel cap that applies around the clock: sound equipment may not produce sound audible beyond the property line in excess of 75 decibels, day or night.

The section only applies to property zoned residential under Sec. 25-2-32(B) (Zoning Districts and Map Codes); it does not govern commercial-zoned property, which instead falls under the separate 85-decibel, 10 a.m.-to-2 a.m. business standard in Sec. 9-2-4. Both rules sit inside Chapter 9-2, whose general enforcement clause, Sec. 9-2-3(D), makes any violation of the chapter a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $500, with proof of a culpable mental state expressly waived, so a citation does not require showing the person meant to break the rule. Sec. 9-2-1 defines "decibel" as sound pressure level measured on a sound level meter using an A-weighting network.