Texas Well Drilling: Rules, Aquifers, Costs by County

Local Help in Texas, TX

Texas has no single statewide well permit. The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) licenses the people who drill wells and install pumps, and the local groundwater conservation district (GCD), where one exists, decides whether your well must be registered or permitted and what it costs.

Depth and price swing more from county to county here than in most states. The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) recognizes 9 major and 22 minor aquifers, and groundwater supplied 55 percent of the 14.7 million acre-feet of water Texans used in 2020. The six county pages below show what that means on the ground, from a roughly 215-ft Gulf Coast well in Montgomery County to a roughly 1,100-ft Trinity well in McLennan County.

Texas Service Details

What providers in this area actually see: coverage, common jobs, local pricing factors, and rules worth knowing.

Service Area Notes

County pages on this site: Bell County, Hays County, Limestone County, McLennan County, Montgomery County and Parker County. Each one names its groundwater district, fees and local depth data.
Central Texas along I-35 (Bell, Hays, McLennan) draws mainly on the Trinity and Edwards (Balcones Fault Zone) aquifers. Parker County, west of Fort Worth, is Trinity country too. Limestone County, east of the Brazos, sits on the Carrizo-Wilcox, and Montgomery County, north of Houston, on the Gulf Coast Aquifer.

Common Jobs in Texas

New household wells, which make up most of the drillers' reports TWDB collects through its Submitted Drillers Reports database
Pump replacement on deep wells, where pump settings commonly run hundreds of feet (median about 840 ft on new McLennan County wells since 2016)
Plugging abandoned wells to the standard in 16 TAC §76.104
Water testing after new construction or repairs, which CDC recommends for private wells

What Drives Pricing Here

Method: our calculator's published $25–$65 per foot, plus about $1,500–$4,500 for pump, tank and hookup, applied to the TWDB median depth for each county. Local district fees are added on each county page.
Montgomery County (Gulf Coast, median about 215 ft): about $6,875–$18,475 before the $500 Lone Star GCD registration.
Parker County (Trinity, median about 240 ft): about $7,500–$20,100 before the $600 Upper Trinity GCD registration.
Limestone County (Carrizo-Wilcox, median about 350 ft): about $10,250–$27,250.
Hays County (Trinity/Edwards, median about 510 ft): about $14,250–$37,650. Bell County Trinity wells (median about 535 ft): about $14,875–$39,275, versus about $5,875–$15,875 for a roughly 175-ft Edwards well.
McLennan County (deep Trinity, median about 1,100 ft): about $29,000–$76,000 before the $1,000 Southern Trinity GCD registration for wells over 100 ft.

Permits & Local Rules

Step 1: Hire a TDLR-licensed water well driller. TDLR licenses drillers and pump installers separately, so check the license covers the work.
Step 2: Find your groundwater conservation district. Fees on our county pages range from $500 (Lone Star GCD, Montgomery County) to $600 (Upper Trinity GCD, Parker County) and $1,000 (Southern Trinity GCD, McLennan County, wells over 100 ft).
Step 3: Register or permit the well with the district before drilling, and follow its spacing rules. Spacing differs by district, so read the rule on your county page.
Step 4: The driller files a well report, which TWDB publishes in its Submitted Drillers Reports database. Ask for your copy.
Step 5: Abandoned or deteriorated wells must be capped or plugged under 16 TAC §76.104 (Texas Administrative Code).

Geology & Water Table Notes

Aquifer overview: TWDB maps the Trinity, Edwards (Balcones Fault Zone), Carrizo-Wilcox, Gulf Coast and Ogallala among the 9 major aquifers. Irrigators draw most heavily on the Ogallala, which supplies 74 percent of the groundwater used for irrigation statewide.
Many aquifers dip below the surface east and south of I-35 and become confined under clay, TWDB notes. That's one reason wells grow deeper and pressures change as you move east of the outcrop belt.
Outcrop zones are where aquifers recharge and are most open to contamination, according to TWDB, so setbacks and grouting matter most there.
Depth data on our pages comes from TWDB's Groundwater Database and Submitted Drillers Reports, not from estimates.
Along the I-35 corridor, the Edwards (Balcones Fault Zone) aquifer lies in a narrow band, and the Trinity Aquifer runs beneath and west of it. In Bell County, recorded Edwards wells have a median of about 175 ft, while Trinity wells there commonly reach 500–900 ft.
East of the Brazos, Limestone County's Carrizo-Wilcox sands yield most new household wells at 240–460 ft. Farther southeast, Montgomery County's Gulf Coast Aquifer layers stack by depth: TWDB puts recorded Chicot wells at a median of about 98 ft, Evangeline at about 329 ft and Jasper at roughly 900–1,060 ft.

Neighborhoods & Suburbs Served

Bell County · Hays County · Limestone County · McLennan County · Montgomery County · Parker County

Emergency Response Expectations

If your well stops producing, check the breaker and pressure switch first, then call a TDLR-licensed pump installer. In drought, your groundwater district may post restrictions.

Texas FAQs

Do I need a state permit to drill a well in Texas?

Usually not from the state. TDLR licenses the driller, and your local groundwater conservation district decides registration, permits and fees. Some areas have no district at all: TWDB says confirmed districts cover nearly 70 percent of the state's area and sit in all or part of 173 of its 254 counties.

How deep are water wells in Texas?

It depends on the aquifer. TWDB driller reports put recent household wells at a median of about 215 ft in Montgomery County, 240 ft in Parker, 350 ft in Limestone and about 1,100 ft in McLennan.

What does a new well cost in Texas?

At our calculator's $25–$65 per foot plus pump and tank, estimates run from about $6,875–$18,475 for a 215-ft well to about $29,000–$76,000 for an 1,100-ft well, before district fees of $500–$1,000 on the pages we cover.

Who keeps records of Texas wells?

TWDB. Its Submitted Drillers Reports database holds the reports drillers file, and its Groundwater Database holds selected well records, water levels and water-quality data.

Should I test water from a new well?

Yes. CDC recommends testing private wells, and our county pages list local water-quality issues found in TWDB records.

What do I do with an old, unused well in Texas?

Have it capped or plugged by a TDLR licensee or the well owner, following 16 TAC §76.104 and any district rules. That rule sets the standard, and an open abandoned well can let surface water reach the aquifer, which TWDB says is most exposed in outcrop zones.

Why does the same well cost so much more in one Texas county than another?

Mostly depth. A Parker County well at the 240-ft median and a McLennan County well at the 1,100-ft median use the same per-foot rate, but the deeper well needs over four times the hole plus a larger pump set much deeper.