This is one of many random questions I found myself asking as a kid. “How much sound can you hear up high in a tall building?”. Who would’ve known that one of my childhood questions would be answered simply by living life? I’ve lived in tall or tallish buildings over the last decade or so, ranging from floor 3 to over 300 feet in the air. So, are high floors quieter in apartment buildings? Rather than give a yes or no answer, I’ll describe the type of noises we’ve been able to hear on each floor we’ve lived on – from the ground up.
Noise & Sounds Heard In An Apartment On Floor 3
When we lived on the third floor, we essentially heard everything that we’d hear if we sat on a bench outside the building’s entrance.
This includes people’s voices, metallic sounds, cars starting up, car doors and other similar sounds.
Now, that doesn’t mean that these noises were the same volume as they would be on the ground – it’s certainly quieter.
In our third floor apartment, we essentially could hear whatever we’d hear on the ground floor, but at about 33% or so normal volume with the windows closed. We’ll come back to that.
For what it’s worth, our apartment was near the stairwell. On a lower floor it’s more likely to have people coming in and out of the stairwell, too.
Noise & Sounds Heard In An Apartment On Floors 6-10
Living in an apartment on these floors is a bit different in the noise department, in a good way.
At this level, you’re anywhere from 55-100 feet off the ground. Hearing any noise from 55-100 feet away will be quieter than within 20 feet, that’s for sure.
When we’ve lived on floors in this range, we haven’t heard conversations, car doors closing or random sounds coming from the sidewalk below.
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In that way, higher floors are quieter for sure – even when going from floor 3 to 6-10. We could still hear plenty of sounds though.
On these floors, we could still hear sounds like sirens, revving engines, a yell or dog bark, loud music from outside and sounds like that – at a reduced volume.
Your neighborhood makes a difference too. If your building is ‘stand alone’ with no other buildings that size nearby, there will be no walls on which the sound can reverberate. Your apartment would be a lot louder if sounds can echo off of an equal sized building next door.
Are Much Higher Floors Quieter In Apartment Buildings? Our Experience At 300-Ft
At these elevations, higher floors are quieter to a noticeable degree in general when compared to lower floors.
As for ‘normal’ sounds, we really only hear the loud stuff. We hear sirens and car horns but not smaller noises. All this is when the windows are closed.
We also hear some noises that are unique to our location. In fact, we probably hear some noises more than the lower floors in our building do. Isn’t that the exact opposite of what we’ve been saying? Yes, so let’s explain via diagram…
At this elevation, we actually hear the highway quite a bit – air brakes on trucks, engines, tires-on-pavement, big trucks hitting bumps and of course car horns.
This is because there’s nothing between us and the highway to block or absorb the noise! There are trees in between the highway and our building, but they only block certain floors.
The volume is certainly reduced, given that we’ve got insulated glass and sealed window panels dampening the noise.
Of course, the lower floors will hear some noises we don’t – there’s always a trade-off in life!
When The Windows Are Open…
You’ve probably noticed that we’ve discussed various sounds and noises we hear on various floors when the windows are closed.
What about when the windows are open?
Whether it be the 3rd floor or the 30th, you’ll hear all sorts of noise when the windows are open.
Will it be different from one floor to the next? Of course.
Hearing any noise thirty feet away will be louder than if you heard it three hundred feet away. That difference in noise volume from one location to the other is about the same as the difference between the 3rd and 30th floors.
With windows open, you’ll hear the noise regardless. At this point, you may ask…
Will I Get Used To Street Noise?
YES. You will definitely get used to it. I notice it in a sense that I know what I’m hearing, but not in a way that it’s disruptive or negative in any way.
Even living in the heart of NYC with sirens wailing at all hours, I would sleep like a baby without ever being woken up at night in the vast majority of cases.
You’ll definitely get used to street noise no matter which floor you end up living on, but higher floors are quieter in nearly all cases.
How Can I Block Out Street Noise In An Apartment?
While it may not be possible to completely silence ambient noise from the outdoors (cars, planes, mechanical units on other buildings, etc.), it can be reduced. Here are a few ways to do so:
- Closed Windows: Keeping windows closed most of the time is an effective way to block out noise. If you’re like me and prefer fresh air, this can be tough. One way to get around this is to open windows in a room you’re not in, so the air can circulate without being too noisy.
- Block Openings: Preventing noise from getting into your apartment is very similar to preventing cold from getting in – both center around eliminating gaps/openings between your apartment and the outdoors. Check out our article titled “My Apartment Is Too Cold In The Winter” for some specific products that block openings!
- Soundproof Curtains: This tip is especially helpful if you’re in an apartment with mostly floor-to-ceiling windows. The majority of noise that makes it into our apartments comes through the windows, as they’re less insulated than traditional walls. Soundproof curtains provide at least some buffer to your windows!
Are Higher Floors Quieter: In Summary
This is just about everything I can think of writing on the topic of which floors are quieter in an apartment building. If you came here curious, now you know! Thanks for reading.
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6 replies on “Are Higher Floors Quieter In Apartment Buildings? My Experience By Floor”
Thanks for the article!
Something very important to add for warm/hot cities: I lived in a Miami high-rise for a month, and the A/Cs there run 24/7. The external compressors for central A/Cs are mounted on rooftops, so if you live on a floor higher than buildings nearby, the sound from those A/C compressors will hit you directly. It’s extremely loud (60dB+ in my measurements).
Modern buildings have good insulation against that kind of noise, but it makes balconies unusable for any sort of peaceful relaxation. Beats me why so many buildings in the MIA-FTL area even have balconies.
Thanks for the comment Dan! Good point about living in high rises adjacent to A/C and other mechanical units – it can definitely be loud on any floor. 60dB is crazy.! I’m sure that was uncomfortable especially outside. I’ve added a note to the article about blocking some of this type of noise using soundproof curtains, at least for some relief while indoors! Thanks for reading.
Great article! I just wanted to add that another important factor is whether your building has a courtyard or not. If your building has a garden, pool or car park in the centre of the block then that is usually much quieter. What I mean is that I have lived in places with dual aspect and the windows facing the internal courtyard are always so quiet at night even if the street facing windows are noisy. You can sleep with the windows open and not hear any noise!
Hello Neil, thanks for reading and great point, did not realize there was such a difference in those cases! Appreciate you sharing your experience.
I am from india . For good connectivity people stay on main road. Where lower floor having low noice pollution due to tree grown both side of main road. But air and light flow restrictions. But less noice pollution. But at higher floor more noice pollution due to continue traffic and honk. So in India prefer not stay on main road but in sub lane where limited traffic.
Thanks for your input!