QuietudeDecibel chart: how loud are everyday sounds?
By Ilia Usatov · November 2026 · 5 min read
A whisper is about 30 decibels and a siren about 120. Somewhere in between, at around 85 dB, sound starts to damage hearing if you are exposed for long enough. Here is where everyday sounds sit, according to the CDC, and how long is too long.
Everyday sounds in decibels
| Sound | About | Risk |
|---|---|---|
| Whisper | 30 dB | None |
| Quiet classroom target | 35 dB | None |
| Normal conversation | 60 dB | None |
| Washing machine | 70 dB | None |
| Traffic, heard inside a car | 80 dB | Low |
| Long exposure starts to harm hearing | 85 dB | Over hours |
| Motorcycle engine | 95 dB | Within an hour |
| Sporting event | 100 dB | Within 15 minutes |
| Siren | 120 dB | A single exposure can harm |
These are typical values. A real motorcycle or stadium can be quieter or much louder, and the CDC gives ranges for many of them.
How long is safe?
NIOSH, the US agency for workplace safety, recommends a limit of 85 dBA averaged over an 8-hour day. For every 3 dB above that, the safe time halves:
| Level | Recommended maximum per day |
|---|---|
| 85 dBA | 8 hours |
| 88 dBA | 4 hours |
| 91 dBA | 2 hours |
| 94 dBA | 1 hour |
| 97 dBA | 30 minutes |
| 100 dBA | 15 minutes |
The US workplace regulator OSHA uses a looser legal limit of 90 dBA with a 5 dB step, so you may see different numbers quoted. NIOSH’s recommendation is the more protective one.
Why the numbers climb so fast
Decibels are logarithmic. Every 3 dB doubles the sound energy, which is why the safe time halves. Every 10 dB is ten times the energy. A 70 dB washing machine and a 100 dB stadium are not “a bit” apart: the stadium carries a thousand times the energy.
A rule of thumb without a meter
If you have to raise your voice to be heard by someone about an arm’s length away, the sound around you is probably 85 dB or more. That is the CDC’s simple test for noise that may be harmful.
About phone meters. An iPhone microphone isn’t a calibrated sound level meter, so readings from any app, Quietude included, are approximate. They are useful for comparing places and times, not for official measurements.
For the other end of the scale, see how quiet a room should be for studying.
Sources
- CDC. Too Loud! For Too Long! Vital Signs, 2017.
- CDC. Loud Noises Damage Hearing.
- NIOSH. Noise and Hearing Loss and Understand Noise Exposure.
- World Health Organization. Guidelines for Community Noise, 1999 (35 dB for classrooms).
Check the level around you
Quietude is a silence timer for iPhone with a live noise meter. Kivi, a little roly-poly in the snow, sleeps while the room stays quiet. Nothing is recorded.
Get Quietude on the App Store →