Boulder, Colorado Well Depth, Yield, and Cost Guide

How deep are wells around Boulder?

How much water do wells make near Boulder?

Boulder well depth depends heavily on the ground beneath the lot

The median reported well depth near Boulder is 38 feet, but that number needs context. The middle half of reported wells runs from 20 to 200 feet, and the 90th-percentile depth is 351 feet. About 63% are under 100 feet, while 20% fall between 100 and 300 feet, 15% between 300 and 600 feet, and 3% exceed 600 feet. The deepest recorded well is 2,839 feet.

Many permits identify an unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer. In granite and gneiss, water commonly follows fractures rather than a uniform underground layer, so two nearby lots can produce very different drilling results. A median depth is useful for early budgeting, not a promise that your driller will reach water at 38 feet.

Most Boulder wells make useful flow, but low-yield wells still occur

Among the wells reporting pump yield, the median is 10.0 gallons per minute, with the middle half between 6.0 and 12.0 gallons per minute. About 67% report yields from 5 to 15 gallons per minute, and 19% report more than 15 gallons per minute. That is generally a workable range for a household, assuming the well, storage, plumbing, and permitted use all fit together.

Low production is not absent: 12% report 1 to 5 gallons per minute and 2% report under 1 gallon per minute. A buyer should ask for the actual well test, not rely on a neighboring address or a regional median. Also confirm the DWR permit allows the intended household, irrigation, or other use.

Boulder water levels are shallow in the available records

The reported median static water level is 11 feet below land surface, with the middle half between 6 and 27 feet. That describes the water level when measured, not the depth of the well and not necessarily the water level during pumping. A shallow static level can still come from a well with limited production.

The decade series does not show a simple long-term decline. Median depth to water was 16 feet in the 1950s, 22 in the 1960s, 23 in the 1970s, 6 in the 2000s, 9 in the 2010s, and 10 in the 2020s. The older and newer records are not directly comparable in every respect, so use a current measurement from the property when evaluating a purchase.

Permit history shows continuing well activity around Boulder

Boulder has a long well record, with 5,919 wells in the Colorado DWR permit data. Of those, 3,488 are recorded as constructed, 3,886 report total depth, 601 report pump yield, and 207 report static water level. The records include domestic or household wells at 51%, monitoring wells at 31%, stock wells at 3%, and irrigation wells at 2%.

Permits were issued across every decade shown in the records, with the largest count in the 1990s at 902. The newest permit year is 2025. The most active drillers listed are Authorized (Pe, Pg), Ground Water Systems Inc. (Wilson, Richard R.), and Norris & Sons (Norris, T A). A permit search can reveal what has been built nearby, but it does not replace reviewing the subject well’s own construction report.

Budget Boulder drilling by footage, then add the completion work

For fractured mountain bedrock around Boulder, the drilling model uses $65 to $100 per foot. At the 38-foot median depth, the drilled hole works out to about $2,500 to $3,800. That is only the hole. A finished well with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is modeled at about $8,500 to $15,800.

Actual bids can move outside that range when the site needs a deeper hole, difficult access, extra casing or grout, or more extensive trenching. Ask the driller to separate footage, casing, grout, pump equipment, testing, electrical, and site restoration. Comparing nearby completed wells helps establish a local expectation, while a driller’s proposal should explain what happens if the first hole has inadequate production.

Check contamination, dry-hole exposure, and the lot layout before closing

Water quality deserves its own investigation. Within about 10 miles of Boulder, the mapped records include 193 PFAS sampling or contamination sites, 588 historic mine features, and 66 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. Those are screening flags, not proof that a particular well is contaminated. Test the property’s water through a qualified laboratory and review nearby land uses, mine history, and any prior sampling.

Low yield and dry-hole risk are harder to solve after construction. Confirm the proposed well location can meet setbacks from septic components and property boundaries, and make sure the lot has room for a replacement area. A new home may also require an augmentation plan in an over-appropriated basin. Have the county, DWR, septic professional, and builder review the plan together before excavation begins.

Use neighboring records to make a Boulder lot decision

Before buying, pull the DWR permit and construction records for the property and compare them with wells in Valmont, Pine Brook Hill, Seven Hills, Paragon Estates, Gunbarrel, or Tall Timber as appropriate. Look for depth, reported yield, static water level, aquifer description, casing and grout details, and the permitted use. The nearby data can show whether your proposed location sits in a consistent pocket or a highly variable fractured-rock area.

For a build, line up the well location, septic system, driveway, utility trench, and house footprint before drilling. For an existing home, collect a recent flow or yield test and laboratory water test, then check the pump and pressure equipment. The practical goal is not finding an average Boulder well; it is proving that this lot has enough legal, usable, and maintainable water for the planned property.

Well permits by decade near Boulder

What a new well costs in Boulder, CO

How this is built: the median permitted depth here times the per-foot range for this ground, plus the normal system costs. A lot at the 75th-percentile depth (200 ft) would run roughly $19,000–$32,000. See the full Colorado well cost guide.

Environmental sites mapped within about 10 miles

Counts come from EPA, USGS and state datasets layered on the Colorado Well Finder map. A count is not a verdict on any one well; it tells you what to test for.

Buying land near Boulder? Know what it costs to build before you buy the dirt.

A listing photo can't tell you whether a lot is a dream or a money pit. Two parcels near Boulder can carry the same asking price while one needs an $80,000 driveway and a $45,000 engineered septic the other doesn't. The well numbers on this page are the start of that answer. A Tri-Lakes Site Feasibility Report is the rest of it: a licensed general contractor, excavator and septic installer reads the parcel the way we would if we were about to build on it, and puts the real cost in writing before your money is committed.

Spend a little to know. Or gamble a lot to guess. Realtors sell the view and inspectors look at houses that already exist. We're the people who'd build it, so we catch what quietly turns a "great deal" into a budget disaster: bad access, buried rock, steep grade, soil that won't pass for a normal septic, water that's a fortune to reach. And if the lot is good, you've already got a builder ready to do the work, driveway to drywall.

• Instant Online Report, $99 — type the address and get a buildability read on the spot: parcel, terrain and slope, soil and septic outlook. Cheap enough to run on every lot you're shopping.
• Desktop Report, $500 — a contractor's from-the-desk feasibility read: Regulation 43 and county code, GIS parcel data, terrain, flood and drainage, soil and septic viability, setbacks and buildable envelope, nearby well depths from our 591,000-well database, the likely driveway route, and a preliminary site-development cost breakdown.
• On-Site Report, $2,000 — everything above, then boots and a drone on the actual ground: house pad and septic zone located, access and winter conditions checked, rock and soil observed in person, a 15 to 20 page written opinion you can hand a lender or seller. Credited toward your project if you build with us.

Under contract, comparing parcels, or a realtor with a rural listing whose buyers keep asking "what will it cost to build here?" This is the due-diligence step almost everyone skips, and the one that saves the most.

Common questions about wells in Boulder

Keep researching

More in Boulder County

All wells in Boulder County — county-wide depth, yield and cost figures.

Nearby areas