How deep are water wells in Plano, Texas?
Only 16 home water wells in and around Plano, Texas have been reported since 2001, so treat this as a rough guide: the middle half are 538 to 1,462 feet deep (median 1,264 ft). Most are completed in the Woodbine Aquifer (63%), and 25% are completed in younger formations above the Woodbine, according to the state's Northern Trinity and Woodbine model (TWDB). Estimated cost of a complete well at the median depth: $34,000 to $82,500.
This page is based on fewer than 30 wells, so it is kept out of search engines until more reports come in. Treat every figure as a rough guide.
Updated every day from Texas Water Development Board driller reports. Last update: November 11, 2026, using the state file of November 10, 2026.
Under Plano, Collin County
Layers at the center of Plano 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 16 real wells.
Digging in…
Home wells in and around Plano
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: Plano and about 2 miles around it
Green: aquifer mapped by the state
Key figures
- Typical depth (middle half)
- 538 to 1,462 feet
- Median depth
- 1,264 feet
- Deepest 10% are past
- 1,508 feet
- Water level (median)
- 400 feet
- 13 wells
- Yield (median)
- 10 gpm
- 13 wells, gallons per minute
- Wells used
- 16
- Since 2001
- Inside the city limits
- 1
- the rest within 2 miles
- All years on file
- 16
- median 1,264 ft, since 2004
- Confidence
- Few wells (10 to 29)
When the wells were finished, the water stood a median 400 feet below the surface (13 wells), well above the bottom: the typical well holds about 864 feet of water.
Which formation do wells in Plano draw from?
Most are completed in the Woodbine Aquifer (63%), and 25% are completed in younger formations above the Woodbine, according to the state's Northern Trinity and Woodbine model (TWDB).
Only 44% bottom out inside the Woodbine Aquifer: the rest keep going deeper but take their water from that layer.
| Layer (state's model) | Share | Wells | Typical depth (ft) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodbine | 63% | 10 | 1,414–1,500 |
| Above the Woodbine | 25% | 4 | — |
| At or just below the base of the WoodbineWashita and Fredericksburg | 13% | 2 | — |
Only 56% of these wells have the water-bearing interval on their report (reports before about 2012 rarely do). For the others we use the bottom of the hole, which tends to read one layer deeper than where the water actually comes from.
The layers under the center of Plano
From the state's model, at 718 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Above the Woodbineshale, chalk and marl | 0 | 866 | 866 |
| Woodbinesandstone with shale | 866 | 1,216 | 350 |
| Washita and Fredericksburglimestone, marl and clay | 1,216 | 1,787 | 571 |
| Upper Trinitysandstone, limestone and marl | 1,787 | 2,523 | 736 |
| Lower Trinitysandstone with shale and limestone | 2,523 | 3,138 | 616 |
Depth over time
Too few wells per period in and around Plano to compare depth over time. Since 2004, 16 home wells have been reported, with a median of 1,264 feet.
| Period | Median depth (ft) | Wells |
|---|---|---|
| 2001–2005 | under 10 wells | 1 |
| 2006–2010 | under 10 wells | 1 |
| 2011–2015 | under 10 wells | 3 |
| 2016–2020 | under 10 wells | 4 |
| 2021–2025 | under 10 wells | 3 |
| 2026 | under 10 wells | 4 |
What a well costs in Plano
At the median depth for Plano (1,264 feet), a complete home well would cost roughly $34,000 to $82,500: $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 (538 to 1,462 feet) the range runs from $16,000 to $94,000. 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 Collin County
- Wells in Denton County
- North Texas Groundwater Conservation District (groundwater district)
- City · 33.0502, -96.7487
Nearby places
Median depth of home wells in each place.
Common questions
How deep do you have to drill a well in Plano, Texas?
Only 16 home water wells in and around Plano, Texas have been reported since 2001, so treat this as a rough guide: the middle half are 538 to 1,462 feet deep (median 1,264 ft). One in ten goes past 1,508 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 Plano draw from?
Most are completed in the Woodbine Aquifer (63%), and 25% are completed in younger formations above the Woodbine, according to the state's Northern Trinity and Woodbine model (TWDB). This is an estimate from the state's regional model, not a survey of the lot.
How much does a water well cost in Plano?
At the median depth (1,264 feet), a complete well would cost roughly $34,000 to $82,500, 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 Plano?
When the wells were finished, the water stood a median 400 feet below the surface (13 wells), well above the bottom: the typical well holds about 864 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 Plano?
Plano is inside the North Texas 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.
Only 56% of these wells have the water-bearing interval on their report (reports before about 2012 rarely do). For the others we use the bottom of the hole, which tends to read one layer deeper than where the water actually comes from.
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/places/plano-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)
