Skip to content
Menu

Home / California / Water Well Driller / Santa Clara County group

California · Water Well Driller · 46 counties

Water Well Driller prevailing wage, Santa Clara County group, California (46 counties)

DIR sets the same water well driller rates, row for row, in 46 counties: Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Yolo and Yuba. Every figure on this page applies in each of them.

$51.14an hour, base wage + fringe benefits

$34.33 base wage + $16.81 fringe benefits

On California public works in each of these 46 counties, a water well driller must be paid at least $51.14 an hour in total: $34.33 in wages plus $16.81 in employer payments to health, pension, training and other funds. Daily overtime is $68.31 and Sunday and holiday work is $68.31.

DIR general determination 063-3-56, issued August 22, 2026. Expires June 30, 2027. Checked against dir.ca.gov on October 24, 2026.

DIR lists 3 water well driller rates for each of these counties, from $46.43 to $51.14 an hour. See all of them.

Base wage and fringe benefits: $34.33 + $16.81

The basic hourly rate is the taxable wage. The other lines, the fringe benefits DIR calls employer payments, are what DIR expects the employer to pay into health, pension and other plans for each hour worked. An employer can pay part of that as extra wages instead, as long as the total per hour stays at $51.14 or more.

Basic hourly rate (taxable wage)$34.33
Health and welfare$10.51
Pension$4.58
Vacation and holiday (footnote BN)$1.72
Total straight-time hourly rate$51.14

Straight time covers an 8-hour day.

When does this rate change?

Rate history since 2024

Total hourly rate for this classification in each DIR release.

DIR releases since 2024
ReleaseTotalChange
2024-2$46.42
2025-1$46.42no change
2025-2$48.56+$2.14
2026-1$48.56no change
2026-2$51.14+$2.58

Every water well driller rate in the Santa Clara County group

As DIR lists them. The highlighted row is the one this page leads with.

  1. Pump Installer$51.14
  2. Water Well Driller$51.14
  3. Helper$46.43
Total hourly rate of each water well driller classification in the Santa Clara County group, highest first, split into base wage and fringe benefits.
ClassificationBase wageFringe benefitsTotal rateDaily OTDetermination
Helper$29.85 $16.58 $46.43 $61.36 063-3-56
Pump Installer$34.33 $16.81 $51.14 $68.31 063-3-56
Water Well Driller$34.33 $16.81 $51.14 $68.31 063-3-56

How the Santa Clara County group compares

The main water well driller rate in every county that has one, and how the pay splits here and in the nearest counties. All bars use the same scale.

Every county in California

Base wage and fringe benefits, nearby

  1. Santa Clara County groupbase $34.33$51.14
  2. Santa Cruz Countybase $34.33$51.14
  3. Alameda Countybase $34.33$51.14
  4. San Mateo Countybase $34.33$51.14

Which county is in which water well driller group

Every California county with a water well driller rate. Counties DIR treats alike share one page; the rest have their own. You pay the rate for the county where the work is done, even if your shop is somewhere else.

CountiesMain classificationBase wageTotal rate
Santa Clara County group, 46 counties: Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Kings, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tulare, Tuolumne, Yolo, YubaWater Well Driller$34.33 $51.14 

1 group of counties with identical DIR rates, and 0 counties with rates of their own.

California water well driller prevailing wage by county, with a map

Footnotes on this rate

DIR's footnotes, in DIR's words. Several change the rate itself: zone pay, a percentage added to the total, or which overtime hours get which rate.

DIR's other marks: # means an apprenticeable craft, * means in effect until superseded, ** means the next rate is already set.

More from DIR on this rate

Every trade's rates, county by county: Alameda · Alpine · Amador · Butte · Calaveras · Colusa · Contra Costa · Del Norte · El Dorado · Fresno · Glenn · Humboldt · Kings · Lake · Lassen · Madera · Marin · Mariposa · Mendocino · Merced · Modoc · Monterey · Napa · Nevada · Placer · Plumas · Sacramento · San Benito · San Francisco · San Joaquin · San Mateo · Santa Clara · Santa Cruz · Shasta · Sierra · Siskiyou · Solano · Sonoma · Stanislaus · Sutter · Tehama · Trinity · Tulare · Tuolumne · Yolo · Yuba

Are you being paid this rate?

Add your hourly wage to what your employer pays into health, pension and other plans for you, and compare it with $51.14. Plan payments only count if the money goes into the plan; your pay stub won't show them, but plan statements will. The training amount goes to the California Apprenticeship Council or an apprenticeship program, not to you. Check a week of pay.

Contractors on most public works jobs file certified payroll with the state, and anyone can look it up in DIR's CPR public search. If your total comes up short, you can file a public works complaint with the California Labor Commissioner.

Source

California Department of Industrial Relations, general prevailing wage determination 063-3-56. DIR prints it in one file per county:

Each figure is copied from DIR's file and checked by a second, separate reader. How we check · How to read a determination · Download every California rate as CSV · Report an error