How deep are water wells in Aurora, Texas?
Home water wells in and around Aurora, Texas are typically 200 to 360 feet deep (median 220 ft, 125 wells drilled in the last 10 years). Nearly all (97%) draw from the Trinity, which the state maps here as one undivided unit, the Antlers Formation; by depth, roughly 65% fall in its upper part and 32% in its lower part, an approximate split. New wells run about 33% deeper than 20 years ago (median 180 ft in 2003 to 2007, 240 ft in 2021 to 2025). Estimated cost of a complete well at the median depth: $8,000 to $19,500.
Updated every day from Texas Water Development Board driller reports. Last update: November 11, 2026, using the state file of November 10, 2026.
Under Aurora, Wise County
Layers at the center of Aurora from TWDB's Northern Trinity and Woodbine model (quarter mile cells, summarized here to about 1.3 miles), at true depth scale. The well and the water are the median of 125 real wells.
Digging in…
Home wells in and around Aurora
Each dot is a home well from a state driller report, colored by depth. Tap one for its details and official report. Tap an empty spot to see what is under that point.
Well depth (ft)
- <100
- 100
- 200
- 300
- 400
- 600
- 800+
Dashed line: Aurora and about 2 miles around it
Green: aquifer mapped by the state
Key figures
- Typical depth (middle half)
- 200 to 360 feet
- Median depth
- 220 feet
- Deepest 10% are past
- 412 feet
- Water level (median)
- 92 feet
- 86 wells
- Yield (median)
- 15 gpm
- 96 wells, gallons per minute
- Wells used
- 125
- In the last 10 years
- Inside the city limits
- 107
- the rest within 2 miles
- All years on file
- 341
- median 207 ft, since 2002
- Confidence
- Standard (30 or more wells)
When the wells were finished, the water stood a median 92 feet below the surface (86 wells), well above the bottom: the typical well holds about 128 feet of water.
Which formation do wells in Aurora draw from?
Nearly all (97%) draw from the Trinity, which the state maps here as one undivided unit, the Antlers Formation; by depth, roughly 65% fall in its upper part and 32% in its lower part, an approximate split.
12% of the wells bottom out near or below the base of the Trinity in the model, often within tens of feet of it; older rock may lie there.
| Layer (state's model) | Share | Wells | Typical depth (ft) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper TrinityPaluxy and Glen Rose | 65% | 81 | 180–220 |
| Lower TrinityTwin Mountains and Travis Peak | 32% | 40 | 320–400 |
| Near or below the base of the Trinity | 3% | 4 | — |
For 99% of these wells the report says where the water enters (the screen or the open hole), and we use the middle of that interval.
The layers under the center of Aurora
From the state's model, at 764 feet above sea level. These are the model's depths at that one point, not those of any particular lot.
| Layer (state's model) | Top (ft) | Bottom (ft) | Thickness (ft) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Trinitysandstone, limestone and marl | 0 | 284 | 284 |
| Lower Trinitysandstone with shale and limestone | 284 | 515 | 231 |
Depth over time
New home wells in and around Aurora are deeper than 20 years ago: the median went from 180 feet (2003 to 2007) to 240 feet (2021 to 2025), 33% more. Deeper wells do not always mean the water dropped: a driller may be going for another layer, better water or more reserve.
| Period | Median depth (ft) | Wells |
|---|---|---|
| 2001–2005 | 180 | 40 |
| 2006–2010 | 182 | 122 |
| 2011–2015 | 220 | 41 |
| 2016–2020 | 220 | 69 |
| 2021–2025 | 240 | 59 |
| 2026 | 370 | 10 |
What a well costs in Aurora
At the median depth for Aurora (220 feet), a complete home well would cost roughly $8,000 to $19,500: $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 (200 to 360 feet) the range runs from $7,500 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.
Where it sits
- Wells in Wise County
- Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District (groundwater district)
- City · 33.0560, -97.5096
Nearby places
Median depth of home wells in each place.
- Rhome 272 ft
- Boyd 360 ft
- Newark 220 ft
- New Fairview 220 ft
- Pecan Acres 320 ft
- Briar 200 ft
Common questions
How deep do you have to drill a well in Aurora, Texas?
Home water wells in and around Aurora, Texas are typically 200 to 360 feet deep (median 220 ft, 125 wells drilled in the last 10 years). One in ten goes past 412 feet. The depth a given tract needs depends on where it sits and what layers the driller hits.
What aquifer or formation do wells in Aurora draw from?
Nearly all (97%) draw from the Trinity, which the state maps here as one undivided unit, the Antlers Formation; by depth, roughly 65% fall in its upper part and 32% in its lower part, an approximate split. This is an estimate from the state's regional model, not a survey of the lot.
How much does a water well cost in Aurora?
At the median depth (220 feet), a complete well would cost roughly $8,000 to $19,500, by TerraFunded's estimate from published Texas driller prices. The real price comes from a licensed driller's quote.
How deep is the water in Aurora?
When the wells were finished, the water stood a median 92 feet below the surface (86 wells), well above the bottom: the typical well holds about 128 feet of water. The level moves with drought and from one well to the next.
Do I need a permit to drill a well in Aurora?
Aurora is inside the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District. Groundwater conservation districts in Texas can require registering or permitting a new well, keeping set distances from property lines and other wells, and paying fees. Rules differ from district to district: ask the district before drilling.
How these numbers are made
We count new and replacement domestic (home) wells whose coordinates fall inside the place boundary or within 2 miles of it. 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 99% 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.
- In this area, north and west of Fort Worth, the state maps the Trinity as one undivided unit, the Antlers Formation. The model cuts it into layers by depth; the split between upper and lower Trinity shown here is approximate, and the depth ranges are the solid part.
- "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/places/aurora-tx. License CC BY 4.0. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.24126380.
Sources
- Submitted Driller's Reports database, Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) (file of November 10, 2026)
- Hydrogeology and Documentation of the Northern Trinity and Woodbine Aquifer System Groundwater Availability Model (NTGAM). Ellis, J., Prieto-Estrada, A., Osborne, A., Deeds, N., White, J., and Keester, M. (INTERA Incorporated), for the North Texas Groundwater Conservation District and Groundwater Management Area 8, 2025, GAM v3.01. TWDB groundwater availability model.
- Texas place boundaries, U.S. Census Bureau (2023 cartographic boundary file)
- Ground elevation: Terrain Tiles (Mapzen), Registry of Open Data on AWS
- TWDB well report viewer (each well's official report)
