California Noise Laws: PC 415, Quiet Hours, Car Exhaust (2026)

California's main statewide noise crime is Penal Code 415(2): "Any person who maliciously and willfully disturbs another person by loud and unreasonable noise" can be punished by up to 90 days in county jail, a fine of up to $400, or both. Penal Code 19.8 lists section 415 among offenses that can be handled as infractions, with a fine of up to $250. Quiet hours and decibel limits for homes and businesses are set by cities and counties; the state's Noise Control Act (Health and Safety Code 46000 and following) expressly preserves that local power, and one of its chapters states a purpose of encouraging local ordinances. The Vehicle Code adds statewide rules on mufflers, modified exhausts and car stereos heard 50 feet away. 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 California state law: disturbing the peace by noise (Penal Code 415(2)), noise on school and college grounds (415.5), noise disturbing religious worship (302) and the infraction rule in Penal Code 19.8; the Noise Control Act (Health and Safety Code 46000, 46001, 46022, 46050, 46060); the Vehicle Code noise sections (27007, 27150, 27150.1, 27150.2, 27150.3, 27151, 27204), the infraction penalties in 40000.1 and 42001, correctable equipment tickets under 40610 and the 2026 statewide bail schedule; and the Civil Code nuisance, sport shooting range and right-to-farm sections (3479, 3482.1, 3482.5) with Code of Civil Procedure 731. It does not cover the text of any city or county noise ordinance, workplace noise rules, aircraft noise, or the law of other states.

Does California have a statewide noise law?

Yes, but it is narrower than many people expect. The state supplies a criminal offense for malicious, willful noise (Penal Code 415(2)), vehicle noise rules, and a Noise Control Act that sets state policy and hands day-to-day noise control to local government. The sections of the Act quoted here set no quiet hours and no decibel limit for homes.

Penal Code 415: disturbing the peace with loud noise

Penal Code 415 provides, in the part that concerns noise:

"Any of the following persons shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not more than 90 days, a fine of not more than four hundred dollars ($400), or both such imprisonment and fine: ... (2) Any person who maliciously and willfully disturbs another person by loud and unreasonable noise."

Three elements stand out. The noise must be "loud and unreasonable" (both words, not either), it must actually disturb another person, and the person making it must act "maliciously and willfully." A noise that is loud but neither malicious nor willful does not meet the statute's words; for an ordinary loud-neighbor problem, the local noise ordinance is the other route.

Misdemeanor or infraction

Penal Code 19.8(a)(1)(A) lists section 415 among the offenses "subject to subdivision (d) of Section 17," and 19.8(a)(2) provides: "Except where a lesser maximum fine is expressly provided for a violation of those sections, a violation that is an infraction is punishable by a fine not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250)." So a section 415 violation can proceed as an infraction with a fine of up to $250. The 90-day and $400 figures are the maximums when it is handled as a misdemeanor; they are ceilings, not set amounts.

Schools and campuses: Penal Code 415.5

Penal Code 415.5(a)(2) covers any person who "maliciously and willfully disturbs another person within any of these buildings or upon the grounds by loud and unreasonable noise," meaning the buildings and grounds of a school, community college, university or state university. A first offense is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $400, up to 90 days in county jail, or both.

After one prior conviction, the sentence is 10 days to six months in county jail, with or without a fine of up to $1,000, and at least 10 days must be served (415.5(b)). After two or more priors, it is 90 days to six months, and at least 90 days must be served (415.5(c)). The section "shall not apply to any person who is a registered student of the school, or to any person who is engaged in any otherwise lawful employee concerted activity" (415.5(f)).

The California Noise Control Act

California's Noise Control Act is Division 28 of the Health and Safety Code. Its findings in section 46000 state:

"(f) All Californians are entitled to a peaceful and quiet environment without the intrusion of noise which may be hazardous to their health or welfare. (g) It is the policy of the state to provide an environment for all Californians free from noise that jeopardizes their health or welfare."

The Act defines "noise" broadly. Under section 46022, "'Noise' means and includes excessive undesirable sound, including that produced by persons, pets and livestock, industrial equipment, construction, motor vehicles, boats, aircraft, home appliances, electric motors, combustion engines, and any other noise-producing objects."

Who enforces it. The Act creates an Office of Noise Control and, in section 46050, directs that "The office shall, in order to protect health and well-being establish and maintain a program on noise control," including "(e) Developing, in cooperation with local governments, model ordinances for urban, suburban, and rural environments." Section 46060 states the purpose of the chapter it belongs to:

"It is the purpose of this chapter to encourage the enactment and enforcement of local ordinances in those areas which are most properly the responsibility of local government. It is further the purpose to insure that the state is of maximum assistance to local agencies in the discharge of those responsibilities, furnishing technical and legal expertise to assist local agencies in the enactment and enforcement of meaningful and technically sufficient noise abatement measures."

The Act's text still refers to an Office of Noise Control, but a 2014 Assembly Committee on Local Government analysis calls it "the defunct Office of Noise Control" and says the office "no longer exists." There is no state noise office to take a complaint; a resident's noise complaint goes to the city or county.

Local power is preserved. Section 46001 provides that no provision of the Act "or ruling of the Office of Noise Control is a limitation or expansion: (a) On the power of a city, county, or city and county to adopt and enforce additional regulations, not in conflict therewith, imposing further conditions, restrictions, or limitations. (b) On the power of any city, county, or city and county to declare, prohibit, and abate nuisances. ... (e) On the right of any person to maintain at any time any appropriate action for relief against any private nuisance as defined in the Civil Code or for relief against any noise pollution."

Quiet hours and local noise ordinances

In California, quiet hours, decibel limits, construction hours and amplified-sound rules come from city and county codes, adopted under the local power that Health and Safety Code 46001(a) and (b) preserve. These rules differ from one city to the next.

To find the rule where you live, look up your city's municipal code (usually linked from the city's website or available from the city clerk) and read its noise chapter. If you live in an unincorporated area, check the county code. Ask your city or county which office takes noise complaints (often code enforcement or police); the penalty for a violation is the one set in the ordinance.

Loud neighbors: your options under California law

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

• The local noise ordinance, enforced by the city or county.
• Penal Code 415(2), where a person maliciously and willfully disturbs another by loud and unreasonable noise. Complaints go to local police, usually through the non-emergency line.
• A private nuisance action. Civil Code 3479 defines a nuisance to include anything that is "indecent or offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property." Health and Safety Code 46001(e) preserves "the right of any person to maintain at any time any appropriate action for relief against any private nuisance as defined in the Civil Code or for relief against any noise pollution." Code of Civil Procedure 731 lets "any person whose property is injuriously affected, or whose personal enjoyment is lessened by a nuisance" sue, and the judgment may enjoin or abate the nuisance "as well as damages recovered therefor."

If the noise comes from a rental unit, the lease terms matter too; for how California leases and tenant rights work, see California landlord-tenant laws.

Loud cars, exhausts and car stereos

Car stereos: the 50-foot rule

Vehicle Code 27007 is California's statewide car-audio rule:

"No driver of a vehicle shall operate, or permit the operation of, any sound amplification system which can be heard outside the vehicle from 50 or more feet when the vehicle is being operated upon a highway, unless that system is being operated to request assistance or warn of a hazardous situation. This section does not apply to authorized emergency vehicles or vehicles operated by gas, electric, communications, or water utilities. This section does not apply to the sound systems of vehicles used for advertising, or in parades, political or other special events, except that the use of sound systems on those vehicles may be prohibited by a local authority by ordinance or resolution."

The rule applies while the vehicle "is being operated upon a highway." Vehicles used for advertising, parades, and political or other special events are outside the section, but a local authority may prohibit their sound systems by ordinance or resolution.

Mufflers and modified exhausts

Vehicle Code 27150(a) requires every motor vehicle with an internal combustion engine and subject to registration to "at all times be equipped with an adequate muffler in constant operation and properly maintained to prevent any excessive or unusual noise, and no muffler or exhaust system shall be equipped with a cutout, bypass, or similar device."

Vehicle Code 27151(a) bars modifying an exhaust system "in a manner which will amplify or increase the noise emitted by the motor of the vehicle so that the vehicle is not in compliance with the provisions of Section 27150 or exceeds the noise limits established for the type of vehicle in Article 2.5," and bars operating a vehicle with an exhaust so modified. Subsection (b) gives a measurable test for most passenger vehicles:

"(b) For the purposes of exhaust systems installed on motor vehicles with a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating of less than 6,000 pounds, other than motorcycles, a sound level of 95 dbA or less, when tested in accordance with the most current SAE International standard, complies with this section."

The 95 dBA test does not cover motorcycles or vehicles at or above 6,000 pounds GVWR. Article 2.5 (beginning with section 27200) sets noise limits, by vehicle weight and date of manufacture, that a new vehicle must meet to be registered on a dealer's report of sale or sold new (27200); 27151 bars exhaust changes that push a vehicle past the limit for its type. For example, section 27204 sets 80 dBA for vehicles over 10,000 pounds GVWR manufactured after 1987.

Whistle-tips. Vehicle Code 27150.3(a) provides that "A person may not modify the exhaust system of a motor vehicle with a whistle-tip." Under 42001(c), a conviction under subdivision (a) or (b) of 27150.3 "shall be punished by a fine of two hundred fifty dollars ($250)," and one under subdivision (c) by a fine of $1,000.

Shops and sellers. Vehicle Code 27150.1 bars a business that sells exhaust systems or parts from offering, selling or installing one "unless it meets the regulations and standards applicable pursuant to this article," and provides that "A violation of this section is a misdemeanor." Penal Code 19.8(a)(1)(E) lists section 27150.1 among offenses that can be charged as infractions, with a fine of up to $250.

Vehicle Code penalties

Unless the Vehicle Code provides otherwise, breaking one of its rules "constitutes an infraction" (Vehicle Code 40000.1). Under 42001(a), an infraction is punished "(1) By a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100). (2) For a second infraction occurring within one year of a prior infraction that resulted in a conviction, a fine not exceeding two hundred dollars ($200). (3) For a third or subsequent infraction occurring within one year of two or more prior infractions that resulted in convictions, a fine not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250)." These are maximum fines, not fixed amounts.

Scheduled amounts. The Judicial Council's 2026 Uniform Bail and Penalty Schedules list a $35 base fine and $247 total bail for a 27007 car-stereo violation, and a $25 base fine and $210 total bail for a 27150(a) muffler or 27151(a) exhaust-modification violation cited as not correctable. A 27150.3(a) whistle-tip violation is listed at a $250 base fine and $1,030 total bail. The schedule notes that, under Penal Code 1463.28, 30 listed counties may exceed the schedule's total bail amounts for traffic infractions.

Fix-it tickets. For a mechanical violation, when the officer decides to take enforcement action, Vehicle Code 40610 has the officer issue a notice to correct, which the driver signs as a promise to correct the violation and deliver proof of correction, unless a disqualifying condition applies. The disqualifying conditions include an immediate safety hazard and a cited violation of 27151(a) on a motorcycle. State referee stations test exhaust systems and issue certificates of compliance for vehicles cited under 27150 or 27151 (Vehicle Code 27150.2). The 2026 schedule lists $25 for a 27150(a) violation, or a 27151(a) violation other than on a motorcycle, cited as correctable. The current versions of 40610 and 27150.2 are repealed as of January 1, 2027, when later versions enacted by Stats. 2022, ch. 595 (AB 2496) take their place.

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

Shooting ranges and farms

Sport shooting ranges. Civil Code 3482.1(b)(1) provides that, except as provided in subdivision (f), a person who operates or uses a sport shooting range in California "shall not be subject to civil liability or criminal prosecution in any matter relating to noise or noise pollution resulting from the operation or use of the range if the range is in compliance with any noise control laws or ordinances that applied to the range and its operation at the time construction or operation of the range was approved by a local public entity" with jurisdiction. A compliant range also cannot be sued for nuisance or enjoined on the basis of noise (3482.1(b)(2)). An owner of property near a permanently located and improved range "may not maintain a nuisance action with respect to noise" against the range owner "where there has been no substantial change in the nature or use of the range," though actions for negligence or recklessness remain (3482.1(c)). Under subdivision (f), a city or county may still require that noise at the nearest residential property line not exceed 60 decibels for nighttime shooting, which the section defines as 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. The section does not apply to indoor shooting ranges (3482.1(g)).

Farms. Civil Code 3482.5(a)(1) provides:

"No agricultural activity, operation, or facility, or appurtenances thereof, conducted or maintained for commercial purposes, and in a manner consistent with proper and accepted customs and standards, as established and followed by similar agricultural operations in the same locality, shall be or become a nuisance, private or public, due to any changed condition in or about the locality, after it has been in operation for more than three years if it was not a nuisance at the time it began."

The same three-year rule covers activities of a district agricultural association (a fair) operated in compliance with the Food and Agricultural Code, other than State Fair grounds activities of the 52nd District Agricultural Association (3482.5(a)(2)). Section 3482.5(d) provides that it "shall prevail over any contrary provision of any ordinance or regulation" of a city, county or other political subdivision.

Related pages

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

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

Last updated: 2026-10-10.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the quiet hours in California?

California's state noise statutes on this page, including Penal Code 415 and the Noise Control Act, set no quiet hours. Quiet hours come from your city or county noise ordinance, which Health and Safety Code 46001 leaves to local government.

What is Penal Code 415 for noise?

Penal Code 415(2) punishes any person who maliciously and willfully disturbs another person by loud and unreasonable noise, with up to 90 days in county jail, a fine of up to $400, or both.

Is disturbing the peace a misdemeanor or an infraction in California?

It can be either. Penal Code 19.8 lists section 415 among offenses that can be infractions, and an infraction under that section carries a fine of up to $250.

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

Noise that meets Penal Code 415(2), maliciously and willfully disturbing another by loud and unreasonable noise, is a crime that local police handle, and local noise ordinances are enforced by the city or county, often through code enforcement.

How loud can car music be in California?

Vehicle Code 27007 bars a sound system that can be heard outside the vehicle from 50 or more feet while the vehicle is operated on a highway, with exceptions for emergencies, utility and emergency vehicles, advertising, parades and special events.

What is the legal exhaust noise limit in California?

For vehicles under 6,000 pounds GVWR other than motorcycles, a sound level of 95 dBA or less under the current SAE test complies with Vehicle Code 27151. Any modification that amplifies noise beyond 27150 or the Article 2.5 limits is barred.

Can I sue a neighbor for noise in California?

Health and Safety Code 46001(e) preserves the right to sue over a private nuisance, and Civil Code 3479 defines a nuisance to include anything offensive to the senses that interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property.