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50 dB vs 55 dB

55 dB is 5 dB louder than 50 dB — about 3.2× the sound energy and roughly 1.4× the perceived loudness. In practice that is the difference between moderate rainfall and a mechanical keyboard.
50 dB 55 dB 50 55
The bars show the two levels on the 0–140 dB scale. The gap looks small as a number, but on a logarithmic scale each 10 dB is a ten-fold jump in energy.
50 dB55 dB
Typical sourceModerate rainfallA mechanical keyboard
CategoryModerateModerate
Sound pressure6.3e-3 Pa0.0112 Pa
NIOSH safe timeUnlimitedUnlimited
Protection neededNoNo

Why 5 dB is a bigger jump than it looks

A 5 dB gap looks small written down, but decibels are logarithmic. Every 10 dB multiplies sound energy by ten and roughly doubles perceived loudness. Going from 50 dB to 55 dB therefore multiplies the acoustic energy by about 3.2× while your ear reports something closer to 1.4× as loud. Both statements are true — they simply measure different things.

Which one is safe?

Both 50 dB and 55 dB fall below the 85 dBA action level, so neither carries a hearing-damage risk at any duration. The practical difference is annoyance and speech interference rather than safety.

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The distance equivalent

One intuitive way to feel a 5 dB difference is to think in distance. Outdoors, every doubling of distance removes about 6 dB, so standing at 55 dB versus 50 dB is roughly like standing 1.8× closer to the same source. Conversely, moving about 1.8× further away would bring 55 dB down to 50 dB.

Adding the two levels together

Decibels do not add arithmetically. A 50 dB source running alongside a 55 dB source does not produce 105 dB — the correct total is 56.2 dB, calculated as 10 × log₁₀(10^(50/10) + 10^(55/10)). Because the louder source dominates, the quieter one contributes only 1.2 dB. Our decibel calculator does this for any combination.

Frequently asked questions

Is 55 dB much louder than 50 dB?
55 dB carries about 3.2 times the sound energy of 50 dB and is perceived as roughly 1.41 times as loud.
What is the difference between 50 dB and 55 dB?
The difference is 5 dB. 50 dB is comparable to moderate rainfall, while 55 dB is comparable to a mechanical keyboard.
What do 50 dB and 55 dB add up to?
Combined, two sources at 50 dB and 55 dB produce about 56.2 dB — not 105 dB — because decibels add logarithmically.
Which is safe, 50 dB or 55 dB?
Both are below the 85 dBA action level and safe for unlimited exposure.

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Sources & accuracy. Reference levels are drawn from published data by NIOSH, OSHA, the CDC, the WHO Environmental Noise Guidelines and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Real-world readings vary with distance, room acoustics and the specific source, so treat every figure as a typical value rather than an exact constant. Last reviewed 2026-08-11.