How to Sleep Through Upstairs Neighbor Noise When Earplugs Don't Work

It's 5:30 a.m. and footsteps upstairs wake you up again. On other nights it's bass from the apartment next door, or a neighbor talking on the other side of the wall, and you can hear all of it even with earplugs in.

Earplugs help with some of these sounds and do very little for others, because footsteps, bass, and voices reach your bed in different ways and each one needs a different approach. Below, we'll walk you through why each type of noise gets past earplugs and the free or low-cost fixes to try first, so you know how to sleep in a noisy apartment before you spend money on new gear.

Note: This content is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice.

Why Earplugs Miss Footsteps, Thuds, and Bass

Earplugs work on sound that reaches your ear canal through the air. Footsteps, thuds, and bass also travel through the building itself, which is why earplugs that quiet a hallway conversation can feel useless against a neighbor upstairs.

Footsteps Travel Through the Floor and Your Bed

Footsteps and impacts make the floor, the walls, and your bed vibrate together, so part of what wakes you is something your body feels rather than something your ears hear, and earplugs can't block that part.

Think of a neighbor dragging furniture at midnight, a small dog running back and forth over your head, or someone getting up before 6 a.m. and walking around the apartment. The bed frame and pillow pick up each step, and it sounds about the same whether your earplugs are in or out.

Bass Gets Past Foam Earplugs

By the time music passes through a wall or floor, most of what's left is the low-frequency bass, and earplugs that rely only on passive isolation block relatively little of it. You push foam earplugs in, the lyrics from next door turn into a blur, but the bass keeps thumping and sounds almost the same as without them. Putting a pillow over your head doesn't change much either.

Passive isolation (a physical seal in the ear canal) works well on higher-pitched sounds like speech and much less well on low-pitched bass. Active noise cancellation, or ANC (microphones and a counter-signal that cancel incoming noise), is aimed at steady low-frequency sound. Traffic rumble and appliance hum fall into the same range, and there are separate ways to block out noise when sleeping from those sources.

A Fan or White Noise Machine Won't Cover Sudden Thuds

Steady background sound narrows the gap between silence and small noises, but it can't cover a sudden thud unless it's turned up very loud. You might have a floor fan, the AC, and a white noise machine all running at once and still hear every step upstairs.

Keep masking sound at a comfortable, low volume through the night instead of turning it up to drown out the neighbors. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), sounds at or below 70 dBA, about the level of normal conversation, are unlikely to cause hearing loss even after long exposure, while long or repeated exposure at or above 85 dBA can cause noise-induced hearing loss.

What to Try for Each Kind of Neighbor Noise

Go straight to the part that matches the noise you hear most often. Each part starts with what to try first, then what to add if the noise still gets through.

Footsteps, Stomping, and Slammed Doors

If you're working out how to block out upstairs neighbor noise like footsteps and thuds, start at the source and with where your bed sits, because those changes do more than anything you put in your ears. Work through these steps in order:

1. Move the bed so it isn't under the main walking path upstairs, and keep the headboard off any wall you share with a neighbor.
2. Pull the mattress and bed frame a couple of inches away from the wall so vibration in the wall doesn't pass straight into the bed.
3. Write down when the noise happens and what it sounds like, then take the log to your landlord or property manager and ask if they could check with the upstairs neighbor about adding rugs in the bedroom and wearing soft-soled shoes at night.
4. Keep wearing earplugs, since they still block the talking and TV sound that often comes through at the same time.

Bass and Late-Night Music

If your neighbor is a music lover who likes to play loud music at night, earplugs still help with the vocals and higher notes, but the bass takes a combination of other steps:

• Keep your earplugs in to cut the vocals and treble, so you hear a low thump instead of a song you can follow.
• Figure out which wall the music comes through and move the headboard to a different wall, so your head isn't right against the side nearest their speakers.
• Play a fan or white noise at low volume. It won't cover the bass, but it fills the quiet gaps between songs, so each beat that starts again is less likely to wake you.
• As with noise from an upstairs neighbor, write down the exact dates and times the music plays, and give that information to your property manager.

Voices, TV, and Coughing Through the Wall

Talking and TV sound from next door reaches you mainly through the air, so earplugs plus steady background sound can block part of it. These sounds are usually not loud and don't follow a pattern. A new neighbor coughs on and off through the night, or a child next door shrieks late in the evening. The noise wakes you just as you're about to fall asleep, and even after it stops, you can lie awake for a long time.

In this case, push your earplugs in until they fully seal, and run a fan or white noise machine at low volume, just loud enough to cover the on-and-off talking. Move the headboard and mattress away from the shared wall as well. If a neighbor snores on the other side of a thin wall, most of the fixes are the same as for sleeping with someone who snores.

Sleep Earbuds for Bass and Voices Through the Wall

The right pair of sleep earbuds depends on which noise still wakes you: soundcore Sleep A30 for low-frequency bass, or Anker soundcore Sleep Earbuds 4, with stronger mid-range noise reduction, for voices through the wall. Neither will stop footsteps upstairs or vibration coming through the bed. Neither will stop footsteps upstairs or vibration coming through the bed. Here's how two soundcore sleep earbuds handle these noises.

soundcore Sleep A30 for Bass

Bass from a neighbor's music is low-frequency sound, and sleep earbuds with ANC can reduce part of it. soundcore Sleep A30 uses ANC designed to block low-frequency sounds such as appliance hum and traffic rumble, together with passive isolation that blocks high-frequency noise. Those examples are steady sounds, so expect the ANC to soften a neighbor's bass rather than silence it, especially when the beat hits hard, while the seal in your ear keeps out the vocals and higher notes.

If you don't want total silence, the ANC on Sleep A30 is designed to reduce nighttime noise to comfortable levels during use.

Anker soundcore Sleep Earbuds 4 for Voices

If you can still make out voices through the wall with earplugs sealed in, sleep earbuds with stronger mid-range noise reduction can help block more of the talking and TV sound. Anker soundcore Sleep Earbuds 4 brings a 3-5 dB improvement in mid-range noise reduction compared with soundcore Sleep A30, and its acoustic technology and physical isolation soften everyday nighttime noise, from humming appliances and traffic rumble to muffled chatter.

What to Do When Your Upstairs Neighbor Keeps Making Noise

Most neighbor noise problems won't be solved in a night, so if you're figuring out how to sleep with noisy neighbors, work through the steps below while making sure you can still get some sleep in the meantime.

• Write down the date, time, and type of noise every time it happens, and keep the log going for one to two weeks.
• Check your lease and the quiet-hours rules for your building and your city.
• Bring the log to your landlord or property manager and ask them to contact the neighbor for you.
• When it feels appropriate, talk to the neighbor in person. Keep your tone calm, mention the times and how thin the walls are, and avoid blaming them. If you leave a note instead, keep it short.
• Until the problem is resolved, use short-term fixes to protect your sleep, such as moving your bed based on the kind of noise you hear and choosing sleep earbuds that suit the sound, whether that's low bass or voices through the wall.

Which Noise Is Waking You, and What to Try First

Find the row that matches what you hear or feel at night, then start with the first option. If more than one row fits, start with the noise that wakes you most often.

What wakes you	What to try first	What it handles
Dull thuds that shake the bed and pillow	Move the bed and talk to your landlord or property manager	Reduces the noise at the source; earplugs only block the talking that comes through at the same time
Thumping bass, but you can't make out the lyrics	Earplugs, headboard off the shared wall, and low-volume background sound	Earplugs block the vocals and treble; if you still hear the bass, switch to soundcore Sleep A30, whose ANC targets low-frequency sound
Voices, TV, or coughing you can make out through the wall	Well-sealed earplugs plus low-volume background sound	Earplugs rely on passive isolation; to help block more talking, try Sleep Earbuds 4, which brings a 3-5 dB improvement in mid-range noise reduction over Sleep A30

Conclusion

Start with the noise that wakes you. If it's footsteps or thuds you feel through the bed, put your effort into bed placement and a noise log for your landlord, since no earplug or earbud stops vibration. If it's bass, keep earplugs in for the vocals and try soundcore Sleep A30 when the thump still gets through. If it's voices or TV through the wall, seal your earplugs, add quiet background sound, and consider Sleep Earbuds 4 if you can still follow the conversation. Pick the pair that matches the noise in your apartment and get back to sleeping through the night.

FAQ

Why can I still hear my upstairs neighbor with earplugs in?

Upstairs neighbor stomping reaches you partly as vibration through the floor and your bed, and earplugs only block sound that travels through the air. That is why the noise can sound about the same with earplugs in or out.

Do noise cancelling earbuds block footsteps?

No. ANC works best on steady low-frequency noise such as appliance hum and traffic rumble. Footsteps are sudden impacts, and part of what wakes you is vibration through the bed, which nothing in your ears can block, so moving the bed and talking to your landlord do more.

What helps with a neighbor's loud music at night?

ANC sleep earbuds such as soundcore Sleep A30 can reduce part of the bass, and if the music happens often, a log of dates and times gives your property manager something to act on.

How do I block out neighbors talking through the wall?

Seal your earplugs properly and run a fan or white noise at low volume to cover the on-and-off talking. If you can still make out voices, soundcore Sleep A30 pairs a passive seal that blocks higher-pitched sound with white noise from its in-app sound library, so the masking sound plays right in your ear at a low volume.

Is it safe to turn up white noise to cover neighbor noise?

No. Turning white noise up to drown out neighbors means hours of loud sound every night, and the NIDCD notes that long or repeated exposure to loud sound can cause hearing loss. Keep masking sound at a comfortable, low volume instead.

How do I ask my landlord or neighbor about noise without making it worse?

Go to your landlord or property manager first and bring a log of the dates, times, and types of noise. If you talk to the neighbor directly or leave a note, keep it short and describe the times and the thin walls instead of blaming them.