How loud is 20 decibels?
At 20 dB you are near the edge of silence: the tick of a clock across the room or leaves brushing in a light breeze. Most homes never get this quiet, and many microphones cannot measure it reliably because their own electronic noise is louder. Recording studios and anechoic spaces aim for levels this low.
Very quiet
Barely audible, like rustling leaves or a silent bedroom.
Sounds around 20 dB
- Clock ticking (1 m)20 dB
- Rustling leaves20 dB
Is 20 dB safe?
Yes. 20 dB is well below the 85 dB threshold where hearing damage begins, so there is no exposure limit.
- NIOSH
- No limit
- OSHA
- No limit
Where you hear 20 dB
Levels around 20 dB are rare in daily life. You find them in a recording studio, a rural bedroom on a windless night or deep inside a well-insulated building. Background noise in most city homes sits between 25 and 35 dB even with everything switched off, because of distant traffic, ventilation and appliances.
Practical tips at 20 dB
Phone and laptop microphones usually have a self-noise floor of roughly 20 to 35 dB(A), so a reading of 20 dB on a phone is often the microphone’s own hiss rather than the room. To check a very quiet space, calibrate first, rest the device on a soft surface and watch the Min value over a minute instead of the live number.
The physics of 20 dB
- Sound pressure
- 2 × 10⁻⁴ Pa
- Sound intensity
- 10⁻¹⁰ W/m²
- Energy vs. threshold of hearing
- 100×
How does 20 dB compare?
0 dB
20 dB sounds about 4× as loud as 0 dB, with 100× the sound energy.
10 dB
20 dB sounds about 2× as loud as 10 dB, with 10× the sound energy.
30 dB
20 dB sounds about 2× quieter than 30 dB.
40 dB
20 dB sounds about 4× quieter than 40 dB.
Measure 20 dB yourself
Open the free sound meter, press Start and see whether your environment is above or below 20 dB.
Frequently asked questions
Is 20 dB safe?
Yes. 20 dB is well below the 85 dB threshold where hearing damage begins, so there is no exposure limit.
Sounds around 20 dB
Clock ticking (1 m) (20 dB), Rustling leaves (20 dB)
How does 20 dB compare?
20 dB sounds about 4× as loud as 0 dB, with 100× the sound energy. 20 dB sounds about 2× as loud as 10 dB, with 10× the sound energy. 20 dB sounds about 2× quieter than 30 dB. 20 dB sounds about 4× quieter than 40 dB.
Sources
Exposure limits follow the NIOSH REL (85 dB(A), 3 dB exchange rate) and the OSHA PEL (90 dB(A), 5 dB exchange rate). Example levels are typical values; real sources vary with distance and conditions.
- Noise and hearing loss basics (NIOSH recommended exposure limit), CDC / NIOSH
- 29 CFR 1910.95: Occupational noise exposure, US OSHA
- Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region (2018), World Health Organization
- Safe listening devices and systems: a WHO-ITU standard (H.870), World Health Organization
- Noise-Induced Hearing Loss, NIH / NIDCD
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