Data report
State of US Well Records 2026
Reviewed by Sean Mihelich, founder of Save My Well. Last updated .
Every state keeps some record of the wells drilled inside it, but how you get one varies a lot. This page counts, for all 50 states and DC, where the official records live, whether a public database can be searched from an address, and which well facts that database returns.
Key findings
- 35 of 51 (50 states and DC) have a public well database that we search live from a street address, across 41 public data layers.
- 46 of 51 have an official records source online: 35 searchable databases and 11 agency records pages.
- 5 release records only by request, or leave them with drillers or counties.
- Of the 35 live databases, 35 return total depth, 29 return the static water level, and 16 return casing diameter. 15 return all three, the numbers needed to work out the gallons in a well.
- Arkansas: the state geological survey's report index holds 138,271 water well reports. The 36,921 that record a usable depth have a median of 128 ft, and the middle half fall between 105 and 175 ft. The 32,199 that record a water level have a median of 40 ft to water (middle half 20 to 80 ft).
How each state's records can be reached
By Census region
| Region | States (with DC) | Live database |
|---|---|---|
| Northeast | 9 | 6 |
| Midwest | 12 | 10 |
| South | 17 | 13 |
| West | 13 | 6 |
All 50 states and DC
Download the CSVDepth, water level and casing show what the live database returns. They read n/a where we do not search the state database live; the agency may still hold those facts on paper or in scans.
Methodology
The counts come from the same state registry that runs the Save My Well lookup, so the page, the CSV and the lookup cannot drift apart. Each state gets one access label:
- Online database we search live: we query a public state or water district database from an address. Each one was verified with live point queries, and the fields listed are the ones its schema actually holds.
- Agency records page online: the agency publishes a well records page. We have not verified a searchable database behind it.
- Records by request: the agency says it releases records on request, or that drillers or counties hold them.
The Arkansas figures come from the Arkansas Geological Survey water well report index (file dated 2022-11-10). Monitoring and test wells, and reports with no township, were left out. A depth counts when it is between 5 and 3,000 ft and a water level when it is above 0 and up to 2,000 ft; a blank or zero means the report did not record one. No other state has a full report index in our data, so no other state gets a depth figure here. For rough ranges by well type, see typical well depths.
Regions follow the US Census Bureau's four regions, with DC in the South. A state can move between labels when an agency adds or drops a public database; we update this page when the registry changes.
Sources
- Each state's records agency, linked in the table above and on well records by state.
- Arkansas Geological Survey, water well reports
- US Census Bureau, census regions and divisions
Cite this page
You may reuse the data and the CSV under CC BY 4.0. Please credit Save My Well and link to this page.
Save My Well. (2026). State of US Well Records 2026. https://www.savemywell.com/data/us-well-records-2026. Data licensed CC BY 4.0.