Noise Ordinances in Pennsylvania (2026)

Allentown does not use a single blanket curfew; instead Article 710 (Chapter 400, Noise Control) sets maximum…

Bethlehem's general noise nuisance ban in Section 717.01 runs around the clock, but the code carves out one true…

Delaware County has no countywide quiet-hours law. Each of the 49 municipalities sets its own. Middletown Township, for…

Erie sets no fixed numeric quiet hours. Instead, Article 705 (Disorderly Conduct) of the Codified Ordinances makes it…

Lancaster County sets no countywide quiet hours. Each of the 60 municipalities does. Lancaster City bars amplified…

Monroe County has no countywide noise code. Quiet hours are set by each of the 20 townships and boroughs, and by the…

Montgomery County, PA sets no general quiet-hours ordinance. Under the PA Municipalities Planning Code, each of the…

Philadelphia's Noise Code (Chapter 10-400) is mainly decibel-based rather than blanket quiet hours, but it bars…

Pittsburgh's noise ordinance tightens at night. Unamplified sound reaching a neighbor's residential property is capped…

Pottstown's noise ordinance bars machinery, equipment and hand tools from running loud enough to carry beyond the…

Reading bars loud yelling, shouting and similar disturbing sounds on public streets between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., part of…

Scranton's noise ordinance sets a 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. curfew on outdoor power tools, model vehicles and loading…

Upper Darby bars audible radios, TVs, stereos and similar sound devices between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. if the sound…

Bucks County sets a 10 p.m. quiet time at every campsite in its Park System under Section 9.7.D of Ordinance No. 170 as…

Article 710.03(E)(1) bars construction, drilling, and demolition tools between 9:00 P.M. and 7:00 A.M. on weekdays and…

Bethlehem's noise ordinance treats most sound as background regulation, but construction and demolition work gets a…

Chester County sets no countywide construction-hours rule; it is governed by your borough or township. West Chester…

Delaware County sets no construction-hours rule; each municipality does. Middletown Township bars construction noise…

Lancaster County sets no construction-hours rule. In the City of Lancaster, construction, drilling, and demolition may…

In the Municipality of Penn Hills, Allegheny County, construction and repair work using compressors, jackhammers…

Philadelphia defines 'Regular Construction' as work between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday-Friday, or 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on…

Pittsburgh caps general construction hours and further restricts loud impact equipment like jackhammers and pile…

Construction, drilling and demolition equipment can't create a noise disturbance across a residential property line in…

Scranton limits construction, drilling and demolition noise to daytime hours: work disturbing a residential property…

Upper Darby bars operating construction, repair, alteration or demolition equipment between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. the…

No Erie-specific ordinance directly addresses construction hours; the City's Codified Ordinances do not set start/stop…

Article 710.03(C)(6) makes it a noise disturbance to own or harbor any animal or bird that barks, bays, cries, or…

Chester County has no countywide barking-dog noise ordinance; it is enforced by your borough or township. West Chester…

Erie has no decibel-based barking-dog ordinance with fixed time thresholds; persistent animal noise that disturbs the…

In Franklin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, it's illegal to own, possess, harbor or control any animal or bird…

Lancaster County has no countywide barking-dog noise law. Lancaster City's Chapter 198 makes it unlawful to keep an…

Penn Hills bars any animal from habitual, continuous barking, howling or crying that disturbs neighbors, defined as…

Philadelphia's Noise Code prohibits more than 5 expressions of sound from one or more animals (such as dog barks)…

Pittsburgh declares a dog, cat, or other animal a nuisance when frequent, habitual barking, howling, or yelping…

Pottstown treats a persistently barking dog as disorderly conduct: keeping any animal in a way that disturbs the peace…

Owning or harboring an animal or bird that barks, howls or squawks continuously for 10 minutes, or intermittently for a…

Scranton's noise ordinance treats a barking, baying or squawking animal as a noise disturbance if it makes continuous…

Upper Darby Code § 222-19 bars letting a dog bark or howl to the point of becoming a nuisance, but enforcement is…

Chester County sets no leaf-blower rule and Pennsylvania has no statewide leaf-blower law. Your borough or township…

Delaware County sets no leaf-blower rule. Municipalities do. Middletown Township bars power blowers and other domestic…

Lancaster County has no leaf-blower ordinance. Lancaster City's Chapter 198 restricts powered lawn and garden tools…

Leaf blowers and other lawn care equipment are exempt from Pittsburgh's noise limits only between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00…

Reading bars mechanically powered lawn and garden tools, including leaf blowers, from running outdoors in residential…

Penn Hills, Allegheny County has no gas-powered leaf blower ban: it bars weedblowers, string trimmers, and other…

Article 710.03(C)(1) makes it a noise disturbance to operate any radio, stereo, instrument, or sound amplifier at any…

York County bans loudspeakers, PA systems and amplifiers outright anywhere in the county park system, and separately…

Using electrical amplifying equipment is a prohibited activity in Allegheny County parks unless the Parks Department…

Bethlehem caps amplified and reproduced sound at a 40-foot audibility radius. Section 717.01(a)(1) bars operating a…

Using a loudspeaker, public address system or amplifier anywhere in the Bucks County Park System requires a Department…

Chester County directly regulates amplified sound on its own property: no person may use a loudspeaker, public address…

Delaware County has no outdoor-music ordinance. Live and amplified outdoor music is governed by each municipality…

Article 705 of Erie's Codified Ordinances makes it disorderly conduct to operate any radio, television, phonograph…

Amplified music in Monroe County is governed by township noise ordinances and, at resorts and rentals, by permit…

Penn Hills caps radios, stereos and other amplified sound devices played louder than needed for voluntary listeners in…

Philadelphia caps amplified music and other sound by decibels above background at the property boundary: 3 dB near…

Pittsburgh caps loudspeaker and amplified sound reaching residential property at 75 dB(A) day and night, or audibility…

Pottstown bars radios, stereos, musical instruments and sound amplifiers from creating a noise disturbance or carrying…

Radios, stereos, loudspeakers and other sound-amplifying devices can't create a noise disturbance across a property…

City Code § 317-7A(1) bars operating a radio, stereo, phonograph, sound amplifier or similar device so loudly it…

Upper Darby bars operating a radio, TV, stereo or other sound-reproducing device loud enough to cross a property line…

Allegheny County requires new subdivisions in FAA noise-contour zones near airports to either restrict development to…

Bethlehem amended its adopted building code to add IBC 720.08, requiring every new residential structure affected by…

Pittsburgh zoning requires helistop applicants to submit a helicopter noise study measured in Ldn; if the analysis…

Scranton doesn't regulate aircraft flight noise, which is federal airspace, but City Code § 317-7A(5) bars repairing…

Allentown's noise ordinance does not apply to normal aircraft and airport operations. Chapter 400, Noise, § 400-5A(4)…

No Erie-specific ordinance directly addresses aircraft noise; the topic is preempted. Aircraft operations and in-flight…

Philadelphia's Noise Code expressly exempts aircraft and airport/railroad operations, and federal law preempts local…

Reading's zoning noise-control section exempts aircraft, including helicopters, lawfully operating from the city's…

Chester County has no countywide decibel ordinance. Pennsylvania sets vehicle sound limits statewide in 67 Pa. Code…

Delaware County sets no decibel ordinance. Pennsylvania fixes motor-vehicle decibel limits statewide (67 Pa. Code §…

Erie's Zoning Ordinance Section 206.2(b) bars any Light Industrial Park use from running sustained noise above 60…

In Franklin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, the zoning code's performance standards cap sound at the property…

In the Municipality of Penn Hills, Allegheny County, the noise ordinance's curfews and limits do not apply to Light or…

Philadelphia Code Section 10-403 sets numeric decibel ceilings measured at the property boundary: 3 dB above background…

Pittsburgh caps unamplified noise crossing into residential property at 65 dB(A) daytime and 55 dB(A) at night, while…

Reading's zoning code sets a sliding decibel ceiling for any use's noise at a receiving lot line, tightest for…

City Code § 317-8 caps sound at a residential lot line at 69 dB(A) by day and 64 dB(A) overnight and on major holidays…

Upper Darby caps stationary noise sources at 55 dB(A) in residential zones from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and 50 dB(A)…

York County sets no countywide decibel standard for property noise. Pennsylvania does set enforceable motor-vehicle…

Pittsburgh bans un-muffled compression ("Jake" or engine) braking anywhere in the city, with an exception only when the…

Article 710.03(C)(12) requires every motor vehicle to have a working muffler with no cutout or bypass, bars idling…

Bethlehem's traffic code bans car stereos audible more than 40 feet away, requires every motor vehicle to run a working…

Vehicle noise is set by state law, which applies throughout Chester County. Under 75 Pa.C.S. section 4523, every motor…

Vehicle noise is set by Pennsylvania statute, not Delaware County. 75 Pa.C.S. § 4523 requires every vehicle on a…

Erie's Article 736 (Recreational Motor Vehicles) bars muffler cutouts, bypasses and straight pipes and requires…

In Franklin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, engine-retarding devices ('Jake brakes') are banned on State Road…

Motor-vehicle noise is governed statewide by the PA Vehicle Code, which requires every vehicle to have a working…

Pennsylvania's Vehicle Code, not Montgomery County, controls vehicle noise statewide. Every motor vehicle must have a…

Penn Hills bans venting engine exhaust into the open air without an adequate muffler, and separately bans excessive or…

Philadelphia bans motor vehicle sound exceeding 5 decibels above background level measured from 25 feet away, covering…

Pottstown Borough Code § 303 bars operating a motor vehicle's sound amplification system, radios, tape or CD players…

Reading bans excessive vehicle sound on public streets, restricts horn use and sound trucks, and separately makes it…

City Code § 317-7A(9) requires every motor vehicle to run a working muffler, without a cutout or bypass, and bars…

Upper Darby caps motor vehicle noise on public streets by vehicle class and speed: 82-88 dB(A) for ordinary cars, 88-92…

Loud vehicles and modified exhausts are covered by Pennsylvania's Vehicle Code, which applies countywide in York…