Quick answer
When is snoring considered severe?
On the Snore Severity Scale™, snoring is rated 0–100 across five tiers: Whisper (0–19), Light (20–39), Moderate (40–59), Loud (60–79) and Severe (80–100). Loudness is the heaviest single input — roughly 40–60 dB is typical and 70 dB or more is loud — but the score also weights how many nights per week you snore, partner impact, daytime sleepiness, witnessed breathing pauses and morning symptoms. A severe result means the pattern is worth discussing with a doctor; it is not a diagnosis, and no decibel level on its own can confirm or rule out sleep apnea.
- Severity scale range
- 0–100Severity scale range
- Whisper to Severe
- 5 tiersWhisper to Severe
- Weighted factors
- 6 inputsWeighted factors
Method: Six self-reported inputs weighted 40/20/15/10/10/5 points, with a red-flag floor for witnessed breathing pauses.Last updated . Sound levels are approximate and depend on microphone distance, room acoustics and body position. SnapSnoreScore measures sound, not sleep — it does not diagnose any condition.
How severe is your snoring?
A free self-check score that combines your own estimates of loudness, frequency, and symptoms into a single 0–100 number. Takes under a minute. No sign-up.
This is SnapSnoreScore's own self-check model — not a validated clinical instrument such as STOP-BANG or the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, and not a diagnosis.
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Complete the questions to see your result
We don't show a score until you've answered every question yourself — a default score would not be your result.
- Estimated peak loudness
- Nights per week you snore
- Partner / household impact
- Daytime sleepiness
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Self-check score from your own answers — not a validated clinical screening tool and not a diagnosis. See our disclaimer.
The five severity tiers
Every Snore Severity Scale™ result lands in one of five tiers. Here's what each one means.
Quiet
0–20
You reported little or no snoring, and no one in the household has raised it.
Occasional
21–40
Soft snoring on some nights. Self-reports are unreliable for loudness — most people underestimate their own.
Audible
41–60
Snoring your household notices, on a regular basis.
Loud
61–80
Loud snoring on most nights with a real impact on the people around you. This describes sound and disruption — nothing about your airway or your health.
Loud, with symptoms you reported
81–100
Alongside loud snoring you reported things like witnessed breathing pauses or daytime sleepiness. Those answers are about how you feel — this tool cannot interpret them, and loudness alone means nothing medically.
| Score | Tier | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 0–20 | Quiet | You reported little or no snoring, and no one in the household has raised it. |
| 21–40 | Occasional | Soft snoring on some nights. Self-reports are unreliable for loudness — most people underestimate their own. |
| 41–60 | Audible | Snoring your household notices, on a regular basis. |
| 61–80 | Loud | Loud snoring on most nights with a real impact on the people around you. This describes sound and disruption — nothing about your airway or your health. |
| 81–100 | Loud, with symptoms you reported | Alongside loud snoring you reported things like witnessed breathing pauses or daytime sleepiness. Those answers are about how you feel — this tool cannot interpret them, and loudness alone means nothing medically. |
How the Snore Severity Scale™ works
This is SnapSnoreScore's own weighting model, not a validated clinical scale. We chose six inputs that are commonly discussed in the snoring literature and assigned weights ourselves; the 40/20/15/10/10/5 split is our editorial judgement, not a figure derived from a published study. Loudness carries the most weight because it is the part we can actually measure. Frequency, partner impact, and daytime sleepiness add real-world context, and the two symptom questions act as red flags that pull the score upward.
- • Loudness (40 pts) — peak dB, the one input that can be measured directly.
- • Frequency (20 pts) — nights per week with snoring.
- • Partner impact (10 pts) — proxy for real-world disruption.
- • Daytime sleepiness (15 pts) — abbreviated Epworth-style scale.
- • Witnessed apnea (10 pts) — the symptom most often cited as a reason to see a doctor.
- • Morning symptoms (5 pts) — dry mouth, headache, sore throat.
Maximum points each factor can contribute to the 0–100 score.
If you want a validated screening questionnaire, ask your doctor about STOP-BANG or the Epworth Sleepiness Scale — this score is a starting point for that conversation, not a replacement for it.
The scale is intentionally calibrated so that a sub-60 score does not rule out OSA when red flags are present — instead, witnessed breathing pauses combined with heavy daytime sleepiness lock the result into the Loud or Severe tier regardless of loudness self-estimates.
Where your loudness input comes from
Loudness is the heaviest factor in the score. Use this chart to translate everyday sounds into decibels before you answer the first question.
| Decibels | Snoring level | Sounds like | Impact on your partner | Acoustic level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40–49 dB | Very light | Quiet library, soft rainfall | Barely noticed by most partners | Quiet |
| 50–59 dB | Light / social | Soft conversation, refrigerator hum | Background noise — light sleepers may stir | Quiet |
| 60–64 dB | Moderate | Normal conversation, dishwasher | Regularly disrupts a partner in the same bed | Audible |
| 65–74 dB | Loud | Vacuum cleaner, busy restaurant | Hard to sleep through without earplugs | Audible |
| 75–84 dB | Very loud | City traffic, garbage disposal | Audible through a closed bedroom door | Very loud |
| 85–94 dB | Extreme | Lawnmower, motorcycle at 8 m | Partner usually moves to another room | Extreme |
| 95+ dB | Record territory | Chainsaw, jackhammer | Heard from other floors of the house | Extreme |
Decibel ranges are measured roughly 1 metre from the sleeper. These are acoustic descriptions of sound only — loudness on its own cannot indicate a medical condition.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Snore Severity Scale™?+
The Snore Severity Scale™ is a free 0–100 scoring tool that combines snoring loudness (in decibels), how many nights per week you snore, partner impact, daytime sleepiness, and red-flag symptoms like witnessed breathing pauses into a single severity rating across five tiers — Whisper, Light, Moderate, Loud, and Severe.
How is the severity score calculated?+
Loudness contributes up to 40 points, frequency up to 20, partner impact up to 10, daytime sleepiness up to 15, witnessed apnea events 10, and morning symptoms 5. Red-flag combinations (witnessed apnea plus heavy sleepiness or very loud snoring) enforce a minimum floor so they cannot be masked by mild responses elsewhere.
Is this a medical diagnosis?+
No. The Snore Severity Scale™ is SnapSnoreScore's own educational self-check score, built from our weighting of your answers — not a validated clinical instrument such as STOP-BANG or the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. It is not a substitute for a clinical evaluation or a sleep study. A severe result is a strong signal to speak to a doctor, not a diagnosis on its own.
How accurate is the loudness estimate?+
If you don't know your snoring volume in decibels, run a free SnapSnoreScore measurement first — it estimates peak dB locally on your phone without recording any audio. Otherwise, use the comparison hints (whisper, talking, vacuum, lawnmower) to estimate.
What a snoring decibel number does not mean
A higher snoring volume does not automatically mean a more serious sleep disorder. Decibels describe how loud a sound is — they say nothing on their own about breathing pauses, oxygen levels or sleep quality. Quiet snoring can accompany significant obstructive sleep apnea, and loud snoring can occur in people with no sleep disorder at all.
- Loudness ≠ sleep quality. A 70 dB snore says how much noise reached the microphone, not how well you slept.
- Loudness ≠ sleep apnea. Apnea is defined by pauses in breathing, not by volume. No decibel threshold can confirm or rule it out.
- Numbers move for non-medical reasons. Phone distance, room acoustics, sleeping position, alcohol, congestion and a blocked microphone can each shift a reading by 5–10 dB.
- Symptoms matter more than the number. Witnessed breathing pauses, gasping or choking at night, and heavy daytime sleepiness are the reasons to speak to a doctor — not a specific dB value.
SnapSnoreScore measures and explains sound. Deciding whether snoring is a medical problem requires a clinician, who can look at symptoms and, when appropriate, a sleep study. See our medical disclaimer.
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