A 7-point verbal noise annoyance scale for residential noises was developed in this study. An auditory experiment using major residential noises such as air-borne, bathroom drainage, and traffic noises was conducted to develop a noise annoyance scale for rating residential noises and allowable limit of them. The modifiers used in the scales were selected according to the method proposed by ICBEN(international commission on the biological effect of noise) Team 6. Results showed that the intensity of the selected words in the 7-point noise annoyance scale was highly correlated with noise levels. and that the intensity difference between each pair of successive levels in the 7-point annoyance scale was almost identical. The allowable limit of residential noise was also investigated in the auditory experiment and that of airborne, drainage and traffic noises were 42.3 dB(A), 41.0 dB(A) and 42.7 dB(A), respectively.