How loud is 70 decibels?

70 dB is about as loud as a lively conversation at close range: the top of the 60–70 dBA range the NIDCD gives for normal conversation. It is safe for your hearing, even for hours: the NIDCD says sounds at or below 70 dBA are unlikely to cause hearing loss after long exposure. It is, however, far too loud for sleeping and loud enough to make concentrating harder.

70 dB compared with other sounds

Level	Example	Compared with 70 dB
40 dB	Library (WHO)	1,000 times less sound energy
60 dB	Normal conversation (WHO)	10 times less sound energy
70 dB	Lively conversation close by (NIDCD range)
80 dB	Doorbell (WHO)	10 times more sound energy
85 dB	Heavy traffic heard inside a car (WHO)	About 30 times more; the point where long exposure becomes a risk

Because decibels are logarithmic, 70 dB is not "a bit more" than 60 dB: it carries ten times the sound energy.

Is 70 dB safe?

For your hearing, yes. The WHO's weekly safe listening allowances start at 80 dB (40 hours a week), and 70 dB sits below that. Noise-induced hearing loss becomes a risk from 85 dBA with long or repeated exposure.

That does not make 70 dB comfortable everywhere.

For sleep, 70 dB is too loud. The WHO's 2018 environmental noise guidelines recommend keeping road traffic noise at night below 45 dB (Lnight, a yearly night-time average measured outside the home). A sound at 70 dB indoors at night is far above that.
For headphones and music, 70 dB is a moderate, safe listening level.
For a car, washing machine or generator, check how the figure was measured. Appliance and generator specifications often give a sound power level, or a level at a set distance such as 7 metres (23 feet). Neither is the same as what a meter shows next to the machine, so compare like with like.
For snoring, 70 dB is loud enough to disturb the sleep of anyone in the same room.

How to check if something is really 70 dB

Measure from where you normally are: your pillow, your chair, the spot where you stand.
Measure for at least 30 seconds and read the average (LAeq), not the maximum.
Measure once with the noise and once without it. The difference shows how much the source itself adds.

A phone meter gives an estimate, usually good enough to tell 60 dB from 70 dB. SoundSense shows the live level in dBA with a graph, and saves each check with a title, place and notes, so you can compare a quiet evening with a noisy one.

Sources

NIDCD, Noise-induced hearing loss, updated 16 April 2025
WHO, Deafness and hearing loss: safe listening
WHO Regional Office for Europe, Environmental noise guidelines for the European Region (2018)

Updated 23 October 2026 by the SoundSense team at Just IT.