How much does it cost to drill a new well?

A new well is one of the few home projects priced mostly by a number nobody knows in advance: how deep the driller has to go to reach enough good water. That is why quotes are given per foot, and why the national figures below cover such a wide range.

There is no official price list. The numbers come from commercial cost guides, with their dates, and they don’t match each other. Treat them as estimates and get local quotes.

What the national guides say

Source	Typical total	Per foot
HomeGuide (July 2025)	$6,000 to $16,000 for 200 feet, average $10,500	$20 to $30 drilling only, $30 to $80+ complete
This Old House (March 2026)	$3,500 to $15,000	$25 to $65
Forbes Home (October 2024)	$3,000 to $9,000, average $5,625	$10 to $65

The guides don't include the same things. HomeGuide's total includes casing, pump, wiring and permit. Forbes Home's per-foot prices leave out casing and the pump.

Sources: HomeGuide¹, This Old House² and Forbes Home³. Forbes Home’s figures are lower partly because they assume a shallower well, 100 to 200 feet for most homeowners, and its per-foot prices leave out casing and the pump³.

Cost by depth

Most contractors price drilling by the foot, so depth is the main factor in the total¹.

Depth	HomeGuide, complete (2025)	HomeGuide, drilling only (2025)	This Old House (2026)
100 feet	$3,000 to $8,000+	$2,000 to $3,000	$3,550 to $6,120
200 feet	$6,000 to $16,000+	$4,000 to $6,000	$7,100 to $12,240
300 feet	$9,000 to $24,000+	$6,000 to $9,000	$10,650 to $18,360
400 feet	$12,000 to $32,000	$8,000 to $12,000	$14,200 to $24,480
500 feet	$15,000 to $40,000	$10,000 to $15,000	not given

HomeGuide's complete cost includes casing, pump, wiring and permit. This Old House uses Angi and Culligan data. Your local quote may fall outside both.

The HomeGuide columns are from its 2025 guide¹ and the last column from This Old House².

You won’t know the exact depth until the driller finds water, but you can get close. HomeGuide says residential wells average 100 to 300 feet, shallower where the water table is high and 300 to 600 feet or more in dry regions¹. USGS notes that drilled wells can go more than 1,000 feet deep, and that how deep you need to go depends on the rock and soil under you⁶. Ask two or three local drillers how deep the neighbors’ wells are; your state may also keep records of nearby wells.

Drilled, driven or dug

Almost every new home well today is drilled. USGS describes the three types⁶:

• Drilled wells are made with a truck-mounted rig, are the most common modern type and can reach deep water.
• Driven wells are a small pipe driven into sand or gravel. They only reach shallow water and can be contaminated from the surface.
• Dug wells are wide and shallow, can’t go much deeper than the water table, are vulnerable to surface contamination and can go dry in a drought.

Driven and dug wells cost less per foot (Forbes Home gives $10 to $25³), but only work where water is near the surface, and the safety trade-off is real for drinking water.

What else is on the bill

The per-foot drilling price is only part of it. Pumps, tanks and wiring are not always in the per-foot quote¹.

Item	Estimated cost
Casing, PVC	$5 to $11 per foot
Casing, steel	$30 to $130+ per foot
Well pump	$400 to $2,500 (HomeGuide); $250 to $5,000, about $1,750 installed on average (Forbes Home)
Pressure tank	$800 to $1,500 (HomeGuide); $200 to $1,100 (Forbes Home)
Electrical wiring and connections	$1,000 to $3,000
Permit	$5 to $500 (This Old House); $200 to $500 (Forbes Home); $350 to $700+ (HomeGuide)
Water and power lines to the house	$50 to $150 per foot
Lab water test	$100 to $500

Estimates from HomeGuide (2025), This Old House (2026) and Forbes Home (2024). Ranges are wide because they span different sizes and materials.

Casing ranges combine HomeGuide¹, This Old House² and Forbes Home³. Wiring is from HomeGuide¹, lines to the house from This Old House and Forbes Home²³, and the water test from This Old House². If the water needs treatment, a filter or softener adds more: HomeGuide gives $800 to $4,000 for a filtration system¹.

Our guide to the well pressure tank explains what the tank does and why its size matters.

What makes it cost more

• Hard ground. Dense bedrock, heavy clay or rocky soil can raise the total by up to 150% of the base price, according to This Old House².
• A deep water table. The deeper the water, the longer and more expensive the job¹.
• Distance from the house. Every extra foot of water and power line adds cost¹.
• Steel casing. Deeper wells or difficult ground may need steel instead of PVC¹.
• Local rules. Some permits come with several inspections or limits on water use¹.
• A dry or poor first hole. NGWA suggests the contract say what drilling deeper, a second well, or sealing a failed hole would cost⁴.

Where to put it

Location is a safety decision, not just a cost one. Penn State Extension recommends keeping a well at least 50 feet from sewers and septic tanks and at least 100 feet from drain fields, pastures and barnyards, and avoiding spots where groundwater is within 10 feet of the surface⁵. Your state or county rules may set different distances, and they are the ones that apply.

Getting quotes you can compare

NGWA’s advice is to get a written contract and an itemized list rather than a lump sum⁴. Penn State Extension adds what a contract for a drilled well should cover⁵. Together, ask for:

1. Drilling cost per foot and casing cost per foot⁴.
2. Casing type and diameter, and how far down it goes. Penn State suggests a minimum of 4 inches to bedrock⁵.
3. Grout seal and a sanitary well cap included⁵.
4. Well development and a yield test, with an estimate of yield⁵.
5. Disinfection after drilling and after the pump goes in⁵.
6. What happens, and what it costs, if the well needs to go deeper or be moved⁴.
7. Cleanup, a start date, and a guarantee of materials and workmanship⁴.
8. The well log and pump test results delivered to you⁵.

When choosing a driller, NGWA suggests checking whether the contractor is licensed by the state (not all states require it), whether they hold NGWA certification, whether they have liability and workers’ compensation insurance, and whether they submit well logs⁴.

Test the water before you drink it

A new well isn’t proven safe until a lab says so. Penn State Extension recommends that the well be disinfected by shock chlorination before the job is finished⁵. Then have the water tested. Our well water testing guide covers what to test for, and our shock chlorination guide explains the disinfection.

Help paying for it

USDA’s Rural Decentralized Water Systems program funds nonprofits that run revolving loan funds for homeowners. The loans can pay to build, refurbish or service a household well in eligible rural areas, at a 1% fixed rate, for up to 20 years and up to $15,000 per household⁷. Eligible areas are rural areas and towns of 50,000 people or fewer. Homeowners apply through one of the program’s nonprofit grantees, listed on USDA’s page⁷.

Your state or county health department may also know of local programs.

How long a well lasts

HomeGuide estimates 30 to 50 years for a professionally installed well with proper maintenance, while the pump typically lasts 8 to 15 years and the pressure tank 10 to 15¹. Spread over that life, the well itself is a long-term investment; the pump and tank are the parts to budget for again.