Arizona Noise Laws: Quiet Hours, Loud Neighbors and Penalties (2026)

Arizona's statewide noise law is the disorderly conduct statute, A.R.S. 13-2904. A person who "with intent to disturb the peace or quiet of a neighborhood, family or person, or with knowledge of doing so" makes unreasonable noise commits disorderly conduct, a class 1 misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500. Quiet hours and decibel limits for homes and businesses are set by cities, towns and counties, and vehicle noise is covered by the muffler sections of the traffic code. State law limits local quiet hours for construction: from May 1 to October 15, a city, town or county may not enact or enforce a noise ordinance that prohibits permitted general construction from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on business days or from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Saturdays (A.R.S. 9-500.52; 11-269.30). To compare other states, see our guide to noise ordinance laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-10. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Arizona state law: disorderly conduct (A.R.S. 13-2904) and the class 1 misdemeanor penalties in 13-707 and 13-802; the vehicle horn, muffler and motorcycle noise sections (28-954, 28-955, 28-955.01) and civil traffic classification and penalty cap (28-121, 28-1598); the outdoor shooting range noise standard, night hours and defense (17-602, 17-604, 17-605); the agricultural nuisance rules (3-112); public nuisance (13-2917); city, town and county ordinance powers (9-240, 9-276, 11-251.05); the summertime construction-hours limit on local noise rules (9-500.52, 11-269.30); short-term rental penalties (9-500.39); and the tenant duty in 33-1341. It does not cover the text of any city, town or county noise ordinance, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality rules, aircraft noise, or the law of other states.

Does Arizona have a state noise law?

Yes, through the disorderly conduct statute, plus vehicle equipment rules and a decibel standard for outdoor shooting ranges. The disorderly conduct statute sets no hours of the day and no decibel limit; quiet hours and decibel limits for homes and businesses come from local ordinances. State law does set hours in some places: local noise rules may not prohibit permitted construction during set daytime hours from May 1 to October 15 (9-500.52; 11-269.30), and outdoor shooting ranges located in areas zoned for residential use (or a use that includes a school, hotel, motel, hospital or church) may not operate from 10:00 p.m. through 7:00 a.m. (17-604(A)).

Disorderly conduct: when noise becomes a crime

A.R.S. 13-2904 provides, in the parts that concern noise:

"A. A person commits disorderly conduct if, with intent to disturb the peace or quiet of a neighborhood, family or person, or with knowledge of doing so, such person: ... 2. Makes unreasonable noise; ... B. Disorderly conduct under subsection A, paragraph 6 is a class 6 felony. Disorderly conduct under subsection A, paragraph 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 is a class 1 misdemeanor."

Two elements must both be present. The noise must be "unreasonable," and the person must act with intent to disturb the peace or quiet of a neighborhood, family or person, or with knowledge of doing so. Loudness alone does not complete the offense. Because the noise clause is paragraph 2, a violation is a class 1 misdemeanor, not the class 6 felony that applies to paragraph 6.

Penalties for a noise disorderly conduct conviction

A class 1 misdemeanor carries up to six months in jail under A.R.S. 13-707(A)(1): "For a class 1 misdemeanor, six months." The fine ceiling is in 13-802(A): "A sentence to pay a fine for a class 1 misdemeanor shall be a sentence to pay an amount, fixed by the court, not more than two thousand five hundred dollars." Both are maximums, not set amounts.

Repeat convictions are treated more seriously. Under 13-707(B), a person at least 18 years old (or tried as an adult) who is convicted of a misdemeanor, other than a traffic offense, and "who has been convicted of one or more of the same misdemeanors or petty offenses within two years next preceding the date of the present offense shall be sentenced for the next higher class of offense than that for which the person currently is convicted."

Quiet hours and local noise ordinances

In Arizona, quiet hours, decibel limits and rules on amplified music are mostly local. For towns, A.R.S. 9-240(B), on the general powers of the common council, includes the power "13. To prevent, suppress and punish any riot, rout, affray, disorderly noise or disturbance in any public or private place within the town." Cities may "Define nuisances and abate them, and impose fines upon persons creating or continuing nuisances" (9-276(A)(16)). A county ordinance may carry a fine or jail, but "A fine or imprisonment shall not exceed the maximum limitations for a class 1 misdemeanor" (11-251.05(A)(2)).

Construction hours. Laws 2025, chapter 181 (SB 1182), approved May 13, 2025 as an emergency measure, added A.R.S. 9-500.52 for cities and towns and 11-269.30 for counties. Section 9-500.52 provides:

"A. A municipality may not enact or enforce any noise ordinance, rule or regulation that prohibits any general construction activities between May 1 and October 15 of each year between the hours of 5:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. each business day and between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on Saturday if the construction work is being performed pursuant to a validly issued building permit issued by the municipality. B. The municipality shall allow concrete to be poured at least one hour before the time that general construction activities are regularly scheduled to begin."

Section 11-269.30 applies the same rule to counties. A local quiet-hours rule therefore cannot stop permitted construction during those hours in that period.

Short-term rentals. Cities and towns may apply noise and nuisance ordinances to vacation and short-term rentals, and an owner with violations finally adjudicated for the same rental within a 12-month period faces civil penalties that rise with each violation, starting at "Up to $500 or up to an amount equal to one night's rent for the vacation rental or short-term rental as advertised, whichever is greater" for the first (9-500.39(B)(2), (F), (L)(5)).

To find the rule where you live, look up your city or town code (usually published on the city's website or available from the city or town clerk) and check its noise or nuisance chapter. If you live in an unincorporated area, check with the county. A city ordinance's penalty is set in that ordinance.

Loud neighbors: your options under Arizona law

For a neighbor's noise, the routes Arizona law supports are:

• A local noise ordinance, enforced by the city, town or county.
• Disorderly conduct under 13-2904(A)(2), where the noise is unreasonable and made with intent to disturb the peace or quiet of a neighborhood, family or person, or with knowledge of doing so. Complaints go to local police.
• Public nuisance. Under A.R.S. 13-2917(A)(1), it is a public nuisance for anything to be "offensive to the senses" in a way that "interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property by an entire community or neighborhood or by a considerable number of persons." The county attorney, attorney general or city attorney may sue to abate it, and knowingly maintaining a public nuisance is a class 2 misdemeanor (13-2917(C), (D)).
• The lease. Under A.R.S. 33-1341(7), part of the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, a tenant shall "Conduct himself and require other persons on the premises with his consent to conduct themselves in a manner that will not disturb his neighbors' peaceful enjoyment of the premises." For how leases and landlord remedies work, see Arizona landlord-tenant laws.

Loud cars, mufflers, motorcycles and horns

A.R.S. 28-955 sets the muffler rule:

"A. A motor vehicle shall be equipped at all times with a muffler that is in good working order and that is in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise. B. A person shall not use a muffler cutout, bypass or similar device on a motor vehicle on a highway. ... E. A person who violates this section is subject to a civil penalty of at least one hundred dollars. F. This section does not apply to an electrically powered motor vehicle."

The $100 figure is a minimum, not a fixed amount. Under A.R.S. 28-1598, "Except as otherwise provided, a civil penalty imposed pursuant to this article shall not exceed two hundred fifty dollars. In addition, the court shall levy surcharges pursuant to sections 12-116.01 and 12-116.02." The citation or the court handling it shows the amount due. A muffler violation is a civil matter, not a crime.

Motorcycles have their own section, 28-955.01:

"A. A person shall not operate or as an owner allow the operation of a motorcycle in this state that is not equipped with the manufacturer's original muffler or other original noise reduction equipment or with a replacement muffler or replacement noise reduction equipment capable of reducing the noise levels below the maximum operating noise levels established pursuant to 40 Code of Federal Regulations section 205.152. B. A person shall not use a muffler cutout, bypass or similar device on a motorcycle operated in this state."

The test for an aftermarket motorcycle exhaust is whether it can reduce noise below the federal maximum operating levels, not how loud it sounds to a neighbor.

Horns are covered by 28-954(A): a motor vehicle operated on a highway must have a horn "capable of emitting sound audible under normal conditions from a distance of at least two hundred feet," and "Any horn or other warning device shall not emit an unreasonably loud or harsh sound or a whistle."

Under A.R.S. 28-121(B), "A violation of or failure or refusal to do or perform an act or thing required by chapter 3, 5, 7 or 8 or chapter 9, article 4 of this title is a civil traffic violation unless the statute defining the violation provides for a different classification." Sections 28-901 through 28-975 of chapter 3 contain no car-stereo, plainly-audible or amplified-sound rule; loud car audio is addressed, where at all, by local ordinances or by 13-2904 when its elements are met.

Shooting ranges and farms

Outdoor shooting ranges. A.R.S. 17-602 sets a decibel standard for outdoor shooting ranges:

"A. The legislature finds that outdoor shooting range noise standards are a matter of statewide concern. City, town, county and any other state noise standards are preempted as applied to outdoor shooting ranges. ... D. The noise emitted from an outdoor shooting range shall not exceed an Leq(h) of sixty-four DBA."

That standard is not a general residential noise limit. Under 17-605(A), "It is an affirmative defense to any civil liability or claim for equitable relief arising from any allegation regarding noise or noise pollution that results from owning, operating or using an outdoor shooting range if the entity or individual owning, operating or using the range complies with this article." Where that defense is raised, "the court shall award the prevailing party its costs and all expenses, including the party's costs incurred in measuring noise emitted from the range and reasonable attorney fees" (17-605(B)).

Ranges also have night hours. Under 17-604(A), "Outdoor shooting ranges that are located in areas that are zoned for residential use or any other use that includes a school, hotel, motel, hospital or church shall not operate from 10:00 p.m. through 7:00 a.m." The rule does not apply while a range is providing law enforcement, military or armed nuclear security guard training, and those ranges must post public notice of their nighttime schedule (17-604(B)). A range must keep its noise measurement on site, and "Any person may review the noise measurement during the range's business hours"; ranges at least one mile from areas zoned for residences, schools, hotels, motels, hospitals or churches are exempt from that measurement duty (17-602(B)). Under 17-602(C), "Any person, at the person's expense, may measure the noise emitted from an outdoor shooting range" using the method in subsection E.

Farms. A.R.S. 3-112(A) provides that "Agricultural operations conducted on farmland that are consistent with good agricultural practices and established before surrounding nonagricultural uses are presumed to be reasonable and do not constitute a nuisance unless the agricultural operation has a substantial adverse effect on the public health and safety." Under subsection (B), operations "undertaken in conformity with federal, state and local laws and regulations are presumed to be good agricultural practices and not adversely affecting the public health and safety." A city, town, county or other political subdivision "may not declare an agricultural operation conducted on farmland to be a nuisance" if its practices are "lawful, customary, reasonable, safe and necessary to the agriculture industry" as determined by the agricultural best management practices committee, the Arizona Department of Agriculture or the Department of Environmental Quality (3-112(E)). In a nuisance suit against a farm, the court may award costs and reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party, and must award them against a party whose suit was not filed in good faith, was not grounded in fact or based on law, or was filed for an improper purpose (3-112(C)).

Fireworks noise has its own state and local rules; see Arizona fireworks laws.

Related pages

• Noise ordinance laws by state
• Arizona landlord-tenant laws
• Arizona fireworks laws
• Nevada noise ordinance laws
• New Mexico noise ordinance laws

This article provides general legal information about Arizona law, not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Arizona or your city, town or county government.

Last updated: 2026-10-10.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the quiet hours in Arizona?

Arizona's disorderly conduct statute, A.R.S. 13-2904, sets no hours of the day. Quiet hours come from your city, town or county ordinances, so check your local code. State law limits them for construction: from May 1 to October 15, a city, town or county may not enact or enforce a noise ordinance that prohibits general construction under a valid building permit from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on business days or from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Saturdays (A.R.S. 9-500.52; 11-269.30). Outdoor shooting ranges in areas zoned for residential use may not operate from 10:00 p.m. through 7:00 a.m. (17-604(A)).

Is it illegal to be loud in Arizona?

Making unreasonable noise is disorderly conduct when done with intent to disturb the peace or quiet of a neighborhood, family or person, or with knowledge of doing so (A.R.S. 13-2904(A)(2)). Local noise ordinances may set further limits.

What is the penalty for disorderly conduct noise in Arizona?

It is a class 1 misdemeanor (A.R.S. 13-2904(B)), punishable by up to six months in jail (13-707(A)(1)) and a fine of not more than $2,500 (13-802(A)).

Can I call the police on a loud neighbor in Arizona?

Noise that meets A.R.S. 13-2904(A)(2), unreasonable noise made with intent to disturb the peace or quiet of a neighborhood, family or person or with knowledge of doing so, is a crime, and local noise ordinances are enforced locally, so local police or code enforcement handle complaints.

Are loud exhausts illegal in Arizona?

A motor vehicle must have a muffler in good working order to prevent excessive or unusual noise, and muffler cutouts and bypasses are barred on a highway (A.R.S. 28-955(A), (B)). A violation carries a civil penalty of at least $100 (28-955(E)). Civil traffic penalties may not exceed $250 except as otherwise provided, and the court adds surcharges (28-1598).

What are the motorcycle noise rules in Arizona?

A motorcycle must have the manufacturer's original muffler or noise reduction equipment, or a replacement capable of reducing noise below the maximum operating levels set under 40 CFR 205.152, and may not use a cutout or bypass (A.R.S. 28-955.01).

Is there a decibel limit in Arizona state law?

The decibel standard in A.R.S. 17-602 applies to outdoor shooting ranges: range noise may not exceed an Leq(h) of 64 dBA. It is not a general residential limit; decibel limits for homes, businesses and events are set by local ordinances.