Nevada Noise Laws (2026): Quiet Hours, Construction, Vehicle dB

Nevada sets a few noise rules statewide: decibel limits for vehicles on the highway, quiet hours in state parks, and, since a 2025 law, a 5 a.m. floor that any local ordinance restricting construction start times must allow from April 1 through September 30 for projects more than 300 feet from an occupied home. Quiet hours and decibel limits for neighborhoods are set by counties and cities, which state law empowers to "regulate, control and prohibit, as a public nuisance, excessive noise" (NRS 244.363, 268.412). The state offense that reaches a loud neighbor is breach of peace under NRS 203.010: maliciously and willfully disturbing the peace or quiet of any neighborhood, person or family "by loud or unusual noises" is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 6 months in county jail, a $1,000 fine, or both (NRS 193.150). 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 Nevada state law: breach of peace (NRS 203.010) and the misdemeanor penalty (NRS 193.150, 193.151); criminal public nuisance (NRS 202.450, 202.470, 202.480); disturbing religious worship or a lawful meeting (NRS 201.270, 203.090); county and city noise powers (NRS 244.363, 268.412); ordinance penalty routes (NRS 268.018, 268.019, 244.1503) and the chronic-nuisance definitions (NRS 268.4124, 244.3603); the 2025 construction-hours law (Assembly Bill 478, Statutes of Nevada 2025, ch. 311; NRS 244.36795, 268.4121) and the common-interest community rules (NRS 116.347, 268.4137); vehicle noise (NRS 484D.285, 484D.400, 484D.410, 484D.415, 484B.920; NAC 484D.150, 484D.185) and the civil-infraction penalty (NRS 484A.900, 484A.7043); boat mufflers (NRS 488.195, 488.950); off-highway vehicle mufflers (NRS 490.120, 490.520); county fireworks ordinances (NRS 244.367); state park quiet hours and their penalty (NAC 407.150; NRS 407.0475); civil nuisance, farms and shooting ranges (NRS 40.140); and the tenant conduct duty and the landlord's remedies (NRS 118A.310, 118A.430, 40.2514). It does not cover the text of any county or city ordinance, homeowners association rules apart from the construction-hours limits above, aircraft or workplace noise, or the law of other states.

Nevada noise laws at a glance

State rules that set hours or decibel limits

Nevada has more statewide numbers than most states. None of them is a general quiet-hours rule for homes.

Vehicle noise limits (NAC 484D.150)

The Legislature directed the Department of Motor Vehicles to adopt rules "governing total maximum noise emissions for vehicles operating on the highways of this State" and "maximum noise emission standards for new motor vehicles sold in this State" (NRS 484D.410(1)). Once those rules took effect, "it shall be unlawful to operate on the highways of this State any vehicle or to sell or offer for sale in this State any vehicle which fails to comply with the emission levels established by such rules and regulations" (NRS 484D.410(5)).

The operating limits are in NAC 484D.150(1). No person may operate a motor vehicle or combination of vehicles "at any time or under any condition of grade, load, acceleration or deceleration in such a manner as to exceed the following noise limit for the category of motor vehicle based on a distance of 50 feet from the center of the lane of travel":

A vehicle covered by NAC 484D.150 "may not be considered in violation unless" it exceeds those limits "by more than 2 dB" (NAC 484D.185(3)). The limits apply "to the total noise from a vehicle" and do not limit enforcement of any other provision on exhaust noise (NAC 484D.150(2)).

The 2025 construction-hours law (AB 478)

Assembly Bill 478 (Statutes of Nevada 2025, chapter 311, approved June 5, 2025) became effective upon passage and approval. It added a parallel section for cities and for counties. The city version reads: "If the governing body of a city adopts an ordinance restricting the hours in which construction work may begin, the hours for construction work on any project that is more than 300 feet from an occupied residential unit must be allowed to begin by 5 a.m. during the period beginning on April 1 and ending on September 30" (NRS 268.4121(1)). NRS 244.36795 says the same for boards of county commissioners.

The act also dealt with ordinances already on the books. Under section 3.7, if on the act's effective date a county or city had an ordinance restricting construction start hours that "does not allow construction work more than 300 feet from an occupied residential unit to begin by 5 a.m. during the period beginning on April 1 and ending on September 30, the ordinance is void and unenforceable." The same section made void and unenforceable any provision in a common-interest community's governing documents, or in a planned-development plan approved under chapter 278A of NRS, that was more restrictive than the act on its effective date (AB 478 sec. 3.7(2)). The act also amended NRS 116.347 so that, in any county, where a county or city restricts construction start hours, the executive board and governing documents of a declarant-controlled common-interest community may not restrict start hours from April 1 through September 30 "to hours other than those set forth in the ordinance" (NRS 116.347(1)). For these rules, a "residential unit" does not include a time share (NRS 268.4121(2), 244.36795).

Two limits on this rule matter. It does not create a statewide construction schedule; it applies only where a city or county has chosen to restrict start times. And it covers work more than 300 feet from an occupied residential unit, so the 5 a.m. floor does not reach work within 300 feet of an occupied residential unit. A separate 2023 rule applies in cities located in a county of 700,000 or more: where such a city restricts construction start times in a common-interest community, work in a declarant-controlled community "must be allowed to begin at, but not earlier than, 5 a.m." from April 1 through September 30 (NRS 268.4137(1)).

State park quiet hours (NAC 407.150)

Nevada's state parks have quiet hours by regulation. Under NAC 407.150, "A person shall not: 1. Disturb others between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.; 2. During those hours, use electronic equipment or machinery at a volume which can be heard beyond the immediate campsite without the written permission of the supervisor of the park; or 3. Operate a generator between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m." The regulation is adopted under NRS 407.0475, and "any person whose conduct violates any regulation adopted pursuant to subsection 1 is guilty of a misdemeanor" (NRS 407.0475(3)).

Does Nevada have statewide quiet hours for homes?

Nevada's statutes set no quiet hours for homes and no statewide construction schedule, and the vehicle code has no rule on car stereos that are plainly audible at a set distance. Neighborhood quiet hours and decibel limits come from local ordinances. The state grants that power in the same words to counties and cities: the governing body "may, by ordinance regularly enacted, regulate, control and prohibit, as a public nuisance, excessive noise which is injurious to health or which interferes unreasonably with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property" within its boundaries (NRS 244.363, 268.412). Both grants are subject to the shooting range exemptions in NRS 40.140(3) and 202.450(9) and to the common-interest community construction rules in NRS 244.3679 and 268.4137.

To find the rule where you live:

• Inside a city: look up the city's municipal code, usually linked from the city's website or available from the city clerk, and read its noise or nuisance chapter.
• In an unincorporated area: look up the county code through the county's website or the county clerk.
• Who to call: the city police department or the county sheriff takes breach of peace and noise complaints, and the city or county enforces its own ordinance.

A city may make the violation of an ordinance a city misdemeanor (NRS 268.018) or "a civil liability to the city in an amount not to exceed $500 instead of a criminal sanction" (NRS 268.019(1)), and a county may by ordinance impose "a civil penalty in lieu of a criminal penalty" for a violation of a county ordinance (NRS 244.1503).

Cities and counties may also adopt chronic-nuisance abatement procedures, and both statutes' definitions of "nuisance activity" include "excessive noise and violations of curfew" (NRS 268.4124, 244.3603). A chronic nuisance includes property where three or more nuisance activities exist or have occurred during any 30-day period under the city statute, or any 90-day period under the county statute.

When loud noise is a crime in Nevada

Nevada's breach of peace statute reads: "Every person who shall maliciously and willfully disturb the peace or quiet of any neighborhood or person or family by loud or unusual noises, or by tumultuous and offensive conduct, threatening, traducing, quarreling, challenging to fight, or fighting, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor" (NRS 203.010).

The words "maliciously and willfully" are part of the offense. Noise that is merely loud, without that mental state, may still break a county or city noise ordinance.

A misdemeanor is punished "by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than 6 months, or by a fine of not more than $1,000, or by both fine and imprisonment, unless the statute in force at the time of commission of such misdemeanor prescribed a different penalty" (NRS 193.150(1)).

Nevada's criminal public nuisance law can also reach noise affecting many people. A public nuisance "is a crime against the order and economy of the State," and it includes an unlawful act or omission that "annoys, injures or endangers the safety, health, comfort or repose of any considerable number of persons" (NRS 202.450). A person who commits or maintains a public nuisance "for which no special punishment is prescribed" is guilty of a misdemeanor (NRS 202.470). In such a case the court must also order the defendant to abate the nuisance, starting within 3 days of the order, and to pay "a civil penalty of not less than $500 but not more than $5,000" (NRS 202.480(1)).

Two other misdemeanors reach noise at gatherings. Willfully disturbing a congregation met for religious worship "by noisy, rude or indecent behavior, profane discourse, either within the place where such meeting is held, or so near it as to disturb the order and solemnity of the meeting," or by "engaging in any boisterous or noisy amusement," is a misdemeanor (NRS 201.270). So is willfully disturbing, "without authority of law," any "assembly or meeting not unlawful in its character" (NRS 203.090).

Loud cars, mufflers, horns and boats

Every motor vehicle "shall at all times be equipped with a muffler in good working order and in constant operation to prevent emissions greater than those allowed by rules and regulations established by the Department," and "no person shall use a muffler cutout, bypass or similar device upon a motor vehicle on a highway" (NRS 484D.415(1)). A horn or other warning device "must not emit an unreasonably loud or harsh sound or a whistle" (NRS 484D.400(1)). A sound truck or other vehicle with an amplifier or loudspeaker may not be driven on a highway to sell or advertise "except in accordance with a permit issued by the proper public authority" (NRS 484B.920(2)); that rule reaches commercial sound trucks, not private car stereos.

These sections carry no penalty clause of their own, so the vehicle code's default applies. Doing an act forbidden in chapters 484A to 484E "is a civil infraction" unless the chapters declare otherwise for that offense (NRS 484A.900(1)), and a person found to have committed a civil infraction "shall be punished by a civil penalty of not more than $500 per violation unless a greater civil penalty is authorized by specific statute" (NRS 484A.7043(1)). The court must also order the person to pay administrative assessments in addition to any civil penalty (NRS 484A.7043(2)), and may waive or reduce the penalty in the circumstances the statute lists (NRS 484A.7043(3), (4)).

A driver may not use an engine compression brake unless the device "is equipped with an operational muffler" or the driver reasonably believes an emergency requires it to protect a person from an immediate threat of physical injury or against an immediate threat of damage to property; a violation is a civil infraction (NRS 484D.285). An off-highway vehicle operated on a highway must have "a muffler which is in working order and which is in constant operation when the vehicle is running" (NRS 490.120(1)(e)), and a violation relating to off-highway vehicle operation is a civil infraction with a civil penalty not to exceed $100 (NRS 490.520(4)).

On the water, "the exhaust of every internal combustion engine used on any power-driven vessel must be effectively muffled by equipment so constructed and used as to muffle the noise of the exhaust in a reasonable manner" (NRS 488.195(1)), and "the use of cutouts is prohibited" (NRS 488.195(2)). Those rules do not apply to vessels in an approved regatta or boat race, their limited trial runs and speed-record trials, or a vessel operating under a separate Department permit (NRS 488.195(3)). Doing an act the boating chapter prohibits is a misdemeanor unless the chapter provides otherwise (NRS 488.950(1)).

Remedies for a noisy neighbor in Nevada

Nevada gives neighbors several routes:

1. Call the police or sheriff when the noise may be breach of peace under NRS 203.010 or breaks a county or city ordinance. Use the non-emergency number unless there is an emergency.
2. Report the ordinance violation to the city or county code enforcement office, which enforces local noise rules adopted under NRS 244.363 or 268.412.
3. Bring a civil nuisance action. Under NRS 40.140(1), "anything which is injurious to health, or indecent and 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" is a nuisance. The action "may be brought by any person whose property is injuriously affected, or whose personal enjoyment is lessened by the nuisance, and by the judgment the nuisance may be enjoined or abated, as well as damages recovered."
4. Contact the landlord if the neighbor rents. A Nevada tenant must "conduct himself or herself and require other persons on the premises with his or her consent to conduct themselves in a manner that will not disturb a neighbor's peaceful enjoyment of the premises" (NRS 118A.310(1)(g)). If a tenant breaches that duty, the landlord may give written notice of the breach and terminate the rental agreement if the breach is not remedied within 5 days or cannot be remedied (NRS 118A.430(1)), and a tenant who maintains a nuisance that injures other tenants or occupants of adjacent buildings and stays after 3 days' notice to surrender is guilty of an unlawful detainer (NRS 40.2514(4)). For other notice and lease rules, see our page on Nevada landlord-tenant laws.

Counties may pass ordinances "prohibiting, restricting, suppressing or otherwise regulating the sale, use, storage and possession of fireworks," with criminal or civil penalties or both (NRS 244.367(1)). For fireworks rules, see our page on Nevada fireworks laws.

Farms and shooting ranges

Farms. NRS 40.140(2)(a) presumes "that an agricultural activity conducted on farmland, consistent with good agricultural practice and established before surrounding nonagricultural activities is reasonable." Such an activity "does not constitute a nuisance unless the activity has a substantial adverse effect on the public health or safety."

Shooting ranges. "A shooting range does not constitute a nuisance with respect to any noise attributable to the shooting range if the shooting range is in compliance with the provisions of all applicable statutes, ordinances and regulations concerning noise" as of the date the statute fixes. And "a shooting range is not subject to any state or local law related to the control of noise that is adopted or amended after" that date, "and does not constitute a nuisance for failure to comply with any such law" (NRS 40.140(3)). The county and city noise grants are made subject to this exemption (NRS 244.363, 268.412).

Related pages

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

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

Last updated: 2026-10-10.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the noise laws in Nevada?

Maliciously and willfully disturbing the peace or quiet of a neighborhood, person or family by loud or unusual noises is a misdemeanor (NRS 203.010). State rules also set vehicle decibel limits (NAC 484D.150), state park quiet hours (NAC 407.150) and a 5 a.m. construction-start floor for local ordinances (NRS 268.4121, 244.36795); neighborhood quiet hours come from your county or city ordinance.

What are the quiet hours in Nevada?

The state statutes set no quiet hours for homes; your county or city ordinance sets them under NRS 244.363 or 268.412. In state parks, quiet hours run from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. (NAC 407.150).

What time can construction start in Nevada?

State law does not set a statewide construction schedule. But if a city or county ordinance restricts construction start times, work on a project more than 300 feet from an occupied residential unit must be allowed to begin by 5 a.m. from April 1 through September 30 (NRS 268.4121, 244.36795, added by AB 478 in 2025).

What is the penalty for disturbing the peace in Nevada?

Breach of peace under NRS 203.010 is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to 6 months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both (NRS 193.150(1)).

How loud can a car or motorcycle be in Nevada?

Measured 50 feet from the center of the lane, a motorcycle may not exceed 82 dBA where the speed limit is 35 mph or less and 86 dBA above that; most other vehicles may not exceed 76 dBA and 82 dBA (NAC 484D.150). A vehicle is not in violation unless it exceeds the limit by more than 2 dB (NAC 484D.185(3)).

What is the fine for a loud exhaust in Nevada?

The muffler and noise sections have no penalty clause of their own, so a violation is a civil infraction (NRS 484A.900(1)) punishable by a civil penalty of not more than $500 per violation (NRS 484A.7043(1)).

Can I sue a neighbor for noise in Nevada?

NRS 40.140(1) defines a nuisance to include anything indecent and offensive to the senses so as to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property, and lets any person whose personal enjoyment is lessened sue to have it enjoined or abated and recover damages.