WV · wells & permits

Water wells in West Virginia

Real drilling records, county depth medians, active contractors, and exactly what it takes to pull a well permit in West Virginia.

The permit, in plain language

Paper / PDF filinggeneric

County health department

64CSR46

Instrument: permit
Fee: Call to confirm
Who files: Property owner applies
Timeline: Varies

Confirm current fee with authority

Before the rig arrives

Confirm parcel allows a private well (vs required public water connection).
Select a licensed well contractor; obtain owner authorization as required.
File permit with County health department (PDF/email/mail — WellMap prepares the packet; lawful submitter files).
Do not drill until authorization is issued (or notification accepted, per regime).

After drilling: Driller completion report ≤30d within 30 days → County health department

WellMap prepares estimate-backed quote packets and dual-party approvals. It does not issue permits and never auto-submits to government systems. The licensed driller (and/or owner where required by law) is the submitter of record. Verified 2026-07-14.

Top drillers on record

No contractor statistics for West Virginia yet — several states publish drilling records without contractor names, and a few aren't in bulk form at all. See data & methodology.

Get a depth estimate anywhere in West Virginia

County by county

Depth statistics across West Virginia

Medians from wells with verified total depth. Click a county for its permit authority, fee and filing channel.

County	Wells	With depth	Median	p10–p90
Kanawha	931	905	76 ft	33–186 ft
Putnam	930	910	85 ft	29–200 ft
Mason	868	852	80 ft	32–135 ft
Berkeley	776	722	110 ft	40–370 ft
Jefferson	695	616	152 ft	47–385 ft
Monongalia	521	501	70 ft	22–240 ft
Monroe	377	301	225 ft	65–579 ft
Hampshire	354	309	99 ft	25–321 ft
Marshall	332	316	90 ft	35–150 ft
Ohio	289	277	70 ft	22–130 ft
Fayette	284	261	91 ft	35–300 ft
Marion	279	264	100 ft	39–169 ft
Braxton	274	267	65 ft	32–158 ft
Boone	267	252	91 ft	18–175 ft
Hardy	256	224	81 ft	23–260 ft
Randolph	244	227	80 ft	34–206 ft
Wyoming	240	230	88 ft	43–247 ft
Webster	240	230	62 ft	30–161 ft
Greenbrier	238	210	112 ft	50–273 ft
Cabell	235	212	75 ft	50–140 ft
Pocahontas	231	191	106 ft	55–278 ft
Raleigh	220	195	90 ft	39–269 ft
Lewis	219	216	84 ft	44–188 ft
Nicholas	214	196	78 ft	32–207 ft
Logan	202	191	100 ft	42–264 ft
Gilmer	201	193	65 ft	28–169 ft
Roane	194	184	80 ft	38–279 ft
Lincoln	186	179	80 ft	30–180 ft
Wood	171	158	80 ft	44–125 ft
Upshur	170	163	76 ft	35–187 ft
Harrison	168	166	94 ft	32–163 ft
Morgan	163	155	198 ft	98–403 ft
Jackson	161	138	120 ft	64–280 ft
Mineral	160	149	85 ft	19–436 ft
McDowell	159	141	115 ft	50–360 ft
Mercer	157	135	198 ft	62–498 ft
Wayne	148	137	80 ft	50–140 ft
Mingo	146	138	73 ft	35–147 ft
Clay	146	140	56 ft	24–156 ft
Preston	146	139	100 ft	36–203 ft
Pendleton	138	126	76 ft	25–208 ft
Calhoun	137	132	72 ft	42–150 ft
Barbour	133	129	95 ft	42–200 ft
Ritchie	128	126	85 ft	46–175 ft
Wetzel	121	117	80 ft	39–122 ft
Taylor	120	119	100 ft	40–200 ft
Tucker	109	101	119 ft	45–340 ft
Wirt	108	102	89 ft	50–138 ft
Summers	105	97	101 ft	45–261 ft
Tyler	98	95	66 ft	35–151 ft
Grant	85	79	90 ft	24–221 ft
Doddridge	70	66	56 ft	36–98 ft
Pleasants	68	68	70 ft	44–98 ft
Hancock	68	59	90 ft	49–215 ft
Brooke	57	45	75 ft	44–118 ft