What Sterling, Colorado Wells Usually Cost and Produce

How deep are wells around Sterling?

How much water do wells make near Sterling?

Sterling wells are usually shallow, but the range is wide

The median reported well depth near Sterling is 70 feet. The middle half runs from 45 to 90 feet, and 80% of wells are under 100 feet. That is the profile a driller will usually start with when estimating a straightforward site in the plains and alluvial setting around Sterling.

There are exceptions. The 90th-percentile depth is 144 feet, while the deepest record reaches 3,230 feet. The aquifer names on permits are mostly unnamed or fractured-bedrock aquifer, with 2,800 wells, while 149 are listed as alluvial and 38 as Ogallala. A bid should account for the actual parcel, nearby logs, casing and grout requirements, and the possibility that local conditions differ from the median.

Reported Sterling yields are strong, but confirm the test

Among the 480 Sterling-area records that report a pump yield, the median is 15.0 gallons per minute. The middle half is also 15.0 to 15.0 gallons per minute, and 91% report more than 15 gallons per minute. Nine percent fall between 5 and 15 gallons per minute. No records in this dataset report less than 5 gallons per minute.

Those figures describe reported well tests, not a promise for an unbuilt well. Ask for the original test, test duration, static and pumping levels, and the permitted use. A household well also needs suitable storage, pressure equipment, and a pump sized to the well rather than simply to the reported yield. Domestic and household permits make up 58% of the local use mix.

Sterling water levels show variation, not a simple decline

The median static water level is 21 feet below ground surface, with the middle half from 8 to 37 feet. That is useful for planning pump setting, trenching, and well construction, but static water level is a measurement from a particular well and date. It can vary across a property and with seasonal conditions.

The decade series does not show a clean, continuous downward trend. Median depth to water was 16 feet in the 1950s, 13 feet in the 1960s, 42 feet in the 1970s, 29 feet in the 2010s, and 28 feet in the 2020s. The limited number of records with water-level data means a buyer should compare nearby well logs and obtain a current measurement rather than treating the series as a site-specific forecast.

Sterling has a long permit and drilling history

Permits were issued across every decade from the 1950s through the 2020s, and the newest permit year in the records is 2025. The largest decade totals were 450 permits in the 2000s, 424 in the 1990s, and 356 in the 1970s. That history gives a buyer more local records to review than a newly developing area would typically provide.

The most active named driller in these records is Stewart Drilling Co., also listed as Stewart, Dennis W., with 527 records. Authorized (Pe, Pg) appears on 319, and Canfield, Leslie George appears on 240. These names describe permit records, not a recommendation. Verify the current license, scope of work, insurance, and references before hiring anyone.

A Sterling well may cost $8,400 to $15,800 finished

For Sterling's alluvium and plains sedimentary rock, the drilling model uses $35 to $55 per foot. At the 70-foot median depth, the drilled hole works out to about $2,400 to $3,800. That is only the hole. A finished well with pump, pressure tank, trenching, and electrical is modeled at about $8,400 to $15,800.

Use the local depth distribution when comparing bids. A proposal based on 70 feet may be reasonable for many sites, while a parcel requiring more than 100 feet can move beyond the median estimate. Ask what happens if the driller must continue, whether casing and grout are included, and which electrical or trenching conditions are excluded. Permit, water-rights, septic, and site-development work should be priced separately unless the contract says otherwise.

Check contamination, septic layout, and dry-hole exposure

Within about 10 miles of Sterling, the mapped environmental information includes 19 PFAS sampling or contamination sites and 6 EPA Superfund or cleanup sites. That does not establish that a particular well is contaminated, but it is a reason to review the parcel's environmental history and test the water before closing. Do not rely only on a general statement that the water is safe.

Low-yield records are absent from this dataset, but that does not eliminate dry-hole risk on a new site. Confirm the driller's dry-hole terms and the intended well location. Septic setbacks, replacement-area needs, driveway access, power routing, and building placement can all affect the total project. A Colorado DWR permit and an exempt household-use well are not the same as a guarantee of water quality or construction success.

Before buying or building near Sterling, verify the parcel

Start with the exact legal location and pull neighboring DWR permits, construction reports, yield tests, and water-level measurements. Compare wells near the property with the broader Sterling pattern: a 70-foot median depth, 45-to-90-foot middle half, and 15.0-gallon-per-minute median reported yield. The nearby records are evidence for planning, not a guarantee that geology will match from one lot to the next.

For a new build, have the well location, septic area, driveway, utility trench, and house footprint reviewed together. Confirm the permitted use, anticipated household demand, pump and storage design, and water-testing plan. In an over-appropriated basin, determine whether an augmentation plan or other water-rights requirement applies before construction. That review is especially important for irrigation or expanded use, since local permits include domestic, stock, irrigation, and monitoring uses.

Well permits by decade near Sterling

What a new well costs in Sterling, 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 (90 ft) would run roughly $9,150–$16,950. 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 Sterling? 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 Sterling 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 Sterling

Keep researching

More in Logan County

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

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