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Woodbine: how deep the wells are

Home water wells that draw from the Woodbine Aquifer in North and Central Texas are typically 180 to 360 feet deep (median 260 ft, 1,037 wells drilled in the last 10 years). In the state's model it is sandstone with shale. It carries the most weight in Collin County (86% of its wells), Ellis County (62% of its wells) and Hill County (48% of its wells). Estimated cost of a complete well at the median depth: $9,000 to $22,000.

Updated every day from Texas Water Development Board driller reports. Last update: November 11, 2026, using the state file of November 10, 2026.

Depth of wells in the Woodbine Aquifer, by countyThe dot is the median and the bar the middle half for each county. The table below has the figures.05001,0001,500 ftJohnsonJohnson: 220–300 ftJohnson: 260 ft260GraysonGrayson: 270–400 ftGrayson: 335 ft335HillHill: 180–360 ftHill: 240 ft240EllisEllis: 390–760 ftEllis: 520 ft520TarrantTarrant: 140–200 ftTarrant: 160 ft160DentonDenton: 190–300 ftDenton: 260 ft260FanninFannin: 48–100 ftFannin: 54 ft54CollinCollin: 900–1,445 ftCollin: 1,055 ft1,055DallasDallas: 300–860 ftDallas: 350 ft350CookeCooke: 116–152 ftCooke: 132 ft132

Under Rendon, Tarrant County

Dot: median. Bar: middle half (25th to 75th percentile). Counties with the most wells in this layer.

What this layer is

The Woodbine is a sandstone with shale beds (the Lewisville and Dexter formations, and the Pepper Shale to the south) that sits above the Trinity across North Texas. The state lists it as a minor aquifer.

Units the model puts in this layer: Woodbine Group: Lewisville and Dexter formations, Pepper Shale to the south.

Source of the layers: TWDB's Northern Trinity and Woodbine model, with quarter mile cells, summarized here to about 1.3 miles.

Key figures

Typical depth (middle half)
180 to 360 feet
Median depth
260 feet
Deepest 10% are past
640 feet
Water level (median)
150 feet
757 wells
Yield (median)
15 gpm
875 wells, gallons per minute
Wells used
1,037
In the last 10 years
All years on file
1,751
median 270 ft, since 2001
Confidence
Standard (30 or more wells)

Counties where homes draw from this layer

Only counties with at least 10 wells in the layer. The share is of the county's wells that the model covers.

Depth of wells in the Woodbine Aquifer, by countyThe dot is the median and the bar the middle half for each county. The table below has the figures.05001,0001,500 ftJohnsonJohnson: 220–300 ftJohnson: 260 ft260GraysonGrayson: 270–400 ftGrayson: 335 ft335HillHill: 180–360 ftHill: 240 ft240EllisEllis: 390–760 ftEllis: 520 ft520TarrantTarrant: 140–200 ftTarrant: 160 ft160DentonDenton: 190–300 ftDenton: 260 ft260FanninFannin: 48–100 ftFannin: 54 ft54CollinCollin: 900–1,445 ftCollin: 1,055 ft1,055DallasDallas: 300–860 ftDallas: 350 ft350CookeCooke: 116–152 ftCooke: 132 ft132
Dot: median. Bar: middle half (25th to 75th percentile). Counties with the most wells in this layer.
CountyMedian depth (ft)WellsShare of the county's wells
Johnson County26024722%
Grayson County33517748%
Hill County24017148%
Ellis County5209862%
Tarrant County160966%
Denton County2608710%
Fannin County548742%
Collin County1,0554386%
Dallas County3751217%
Cooke County140112%

Places where it is the main layer

Where it sits among the model's layers

From top to bottom, with the median depth of the home wells that draw from each:

Layer (state's model)RockMedian depth (ft)Wells
Above the Woodbineshale, chalk and marl1601,739
Woodbinesandstone with shale2601,037
Washita and Fredericksburglimestone, marl and clay2401,050
Upper Trinity (Paluxy and Glen Rose)sandstone, limestone and marl2809,322
Lower Trinity (Twin Mountains and Travis Peak)sandstone with shale and limestone34012,230

Depth over time

Home well depth in this layer has not changed meaningfully in 20 years: the median was 290 feet in 2003 to 2007 and 260 feet in 2021 to 2025 (a difference under 10% or within the margin of error).

PeriodMedian depth (ft)Wells
2001–2005300185
2006–2010280237
2011–2015240235
2016–2020280419
2021–2025260591
202626084

Common questions

How deep is a well in the Woodbine Aquifer?

Home water wells that draw from the Woodbine Aquifer in North and Central Texas are typically 180 to 360 feet deep (median 260 ft, 1,037 wells drilled in the last 10 years).

What is the Woodbine Aquifer?

The Woodbine is a sandstone with shale beds (the Lewisville and Dexter formations, and the Pepper Shale to the south) that sits above the Trinity across North Texas. The state lists it as a minor aquifer.

How deep does the water stand in these wells?

When the wells were finished, the water stood a median 150 feet below the surface (757 wells).

What a well in this layer costs

At the median depth for this layer (260 feet), a complete home well would cost roughly $9,000 to $22,000: $25 to $60 per foot for drilling, casing and seal, plus $2,500 to $6,500 for the pump, pressure tank, controls and hookup at the well. Across the whole middle half of depths (180 to 360 feet) the range runs from $7,000 to $28,000. This is TerraFunded's estimate from published Texas prices, not a quote, and it leaves out trenching and the line to the house. Get prices from at least two licensed drillers.

How these numbers are made

We count new and replacement domestic (home) wells with a valid depth on their report. We use the last 10 years when there are at least 30 wells; otherwise all since 2001. The median is the middle well and the middle half runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile.

To tell which layer a well draws from, we take the ground elevation at its location, subtract the depth of the interval where water enters (or the bottom of the hole when the report does not give one) and see which layer of the state's model that point falls in.

For 98% of these wells the report says where the water enters (the screen or the open hole), and we use the middle of that interval.

How well it works: In 7,977 wells in the area of the state's Northern Trinity and Woodbine model (North and Central Texas) where the State of Texas recorded the aquifer, our estimate of the formation the well draws from names the same layer of the state's model in about 74% of them, and that layer or the one next to it in at least 95%; among the 3,130 of those wells that the state places in a Trinity layer (Paluxy to Hosston) it is about 56%.

  • The layers come from the Texas Water Development Board's Northern Trinity and Woodbine model, with quarter mile cells, summarized here to about 1.3 miles. It is a regional model, not a survey of any lot: between one model point and the next, the real depth of each layer can differ.
  • In this model every layer is at least 30 feet thick, even where the real rock is thinner or missing. Thin layers and the edges of the model are approximate.
  • Inside the Trinity this atlas does not name single model layers: it groups the Paluxy and Glen Rose (upper Trinity) and groups the Hensell, Pearsall and Hosston (lower Trinity, Twin Mountains and Travis Peak), because the check against the state's codes shows the method cannot separate them reliably.
  • "Near or below the base of the Trinity" means the well reaches the bottom of the model or passes it, often by tens of feet. Older rock that the model does not include may lie there.
  • We never use the model's water levels. The water level on this page is the one each driller measured when the well was finished.

These are depths of real wells drilled nearby, not a promise about any property. Groundwater can change over short distances and with drought. A licensed water well driller can tell you what to expect on a specific tract.

Read the full methodology · Download the data (CSV, CC BY 4.0)

How to cite

TerraFunded (2026). Texas Well Atlas: Underground. From Texas Water Development Board driller reports and groundwater availability models (data as of November 10, 2026). https://terrafunded.com/wells/formations/woodbine. License CC BY 4.0. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.24126380.

Sources