How wide is a standard utility easement?

Most residential utility easements are 10 to 20 feet wide, and 10 feet is the usual figure for a buried service line. Overhead distribution lines commonly take 20 feet, and high-voltage transmission corridors run from 50 to 200 feet. The controlling number is whatever your recorded easement or subdivision plat says, not the convention.

Where is the easement measured from?

Almost always from the center of the facility, so half the width falls on each side of the pipe, cable or pole line. Rear-lot easements are often split along a shared boundary, giving each neighbor half the strip. Road rights-of-way are measured from the roadway centerline, which is why the right-of-way line usually sits behind the sidewalk, inside what looks like your lawn.

Can I build a fence or shed inside an easement?

A fence is often tolerated if the utility can still get equipment in, sometimes on the condition that a panel is removable. A shed, deck, garage or anything with a foundation is normally refused, and a utility that has to dig is generally not obliged to put your structure back.

What if my easement document does not state a width?

Older grants sometimes describe a blanket easement across the whole parcel with no dimension. Courts generally limit the holder to what is reasonably necessary for the stated purpose, but that is an argument, not a line on a map. Owners in this position often ask the holder to record an amendment fixing the strip in a defined location.

Does the easement width change what my property is worth?

It can. Value effects come from the share of the lot encumbered, whether the strip blocks the buildable area or a future addition, and what the holder is allowed to do inside it. A narrow side-yard utility strip usually has little effect, while a corridor crossing the middle of a building envelope can be significant.

Easement widths

How wide is an easement on my property?

Most home utility easements are 10 to 20 feet wide; pipelines and power lines run 50 to 200 ft. See widths by type, how they are measured, and what you can build. Pick the kind of line or access running across your land and you will get the width people usually see recorded, where it is measured from, and what a holder normally allows inside the strip.

Check a typical width

Overhead electric distribution line

10–30 ftmost often 20 ft

Neighborhood power lines on wood poles usually sit in a strip 10 to 30 feet wide, most often 20 feet, centered on the poles.

How it is measured

Usually centered on the pole line, so half the width falls on each side of the poles. Rear-lot easements are often split down a shared property line, giving each neighbor half the strip.

Usually allowed

Lawn, garden beds, and low shrubs
Driveways, walkways, and patios at grade
Removable fencing, if the utility can still reach the poles

Usually refused

Sheds, garages, decks, and any roofed structure
Trees that will grow into the conductors
Pools and permanent retaining walls

Before you plan work

Electric utilities care most about climbing space and truck access to the poles. A fence with a removable panel or a gate at the easement line is the compromise that usually gets approved.

Read the full guide to this kind of easement

Also searched as: power line easement, utility pole easement, electric easement.

Typical recorded widths at a glance

Every figure below is in feet and describes the recorded strip, not the pavement, pipe or wire inside it. Widths cluster around these numbers because utilities draft from standard forms, but a plat note or a negotiated grant can set any width the parties agreed to.

Typical easement widths in feet by utility or access type
Easement type	Typical width	Most common	Measured from
Overhead electric distribution line	10–30 ft	20 ft	Usually centered on the pole line, so half the width falls on each side of the poles. Rear-lot easements are often split down a shared property line, giving each neighbor half the strip.
Overhead electric transmission line	50–200 ft	100 ft	Centered on the tower or pole line. Width scales with voltage and conductor sway, so a 500 kV corridor can exceed 200 feet.
Underground electric service	5–15 ft	10 ft	Centered on the cable or the trench line shown on the plat, frequently along the front or side lot line.
Natural gas distribution main	10–20 ft	15 ft	Centered on the pipe, as shown on the utility's as-built records.
Gas or oil transmission pipeline	25–100 ft	50 ft	Centered on the pipe. Older grants sometimes describe a blanket easement with no fixed width, which is worth having narrowed in writing.
Public water main	10–30 ft	20 ft	Centered on the pipe, or as dimensioned on the subdivision plat.
Sanitary sewer main	15–40 ft	20 ft	Centered on the pipe. Many jurisdictions set width by depth, for example twice the depth of cover plus the pipe diameter.
Storm drainage easement	10–50 ft	Varies	Along the pipe, swale, or channel as platted. Overland flow easements may be described by contour or by a mapped floodway rather than a fixed strip.
Shared driveway or access easement	12–30 ft	20 ft	Described by metes and bounds or as a strip a set distance from a lot line. The paved surface is normally narrower than the recorded easement.
Public road right-of-way	40–120 ft	60 ft	Centered on the roadway centerline in most subdivisions, so the right-of-way line commonly sits several feet behind the sidewalk, inside what looks like your front lawn.
Telephone, cable, or fiber	5–15 ft	10 ft	Along the cable route or shared with the platted utility easement at the lot line.
Conservation easement area	25–300 ft	Varies	By mapped boundary, contour, or distance from a stream or wetland edge, as set out in the deed of easement.

Why the recorded width matters more than the pipe

Owners tend to plan around what they can see. The cable is over there, the pole is at the corner, the sewer manhole is in the back corner of the yard, so surely a shed halfway between them is fine. The holder does not read the property that way. Their rights run to the edges of the recorded strip, and the width exists so a crew can bring in a machine, open a trench, stack the spoil somewhere, and work safely beside the excavation. A ten foot deep sewer repair needs a working area far larger than the pipe.

That is also why permission to encroach is usually conditional rather than flat. A utility will often accept a fence with a removable section, paving that can be broken out, or planting that can be scraped away, because all three can be sacrificed in a repair. It will not accept a foundation, because a foundation forces the crew to work around it or forces the utility into a dispute with you at the worst possible moment.

Two practical steps settle most questions. First, get the document: your plat or the recorded grant states the width and the location, and the county keeps both. Second, call 811 before any digging, which is free and tells you where the facility actually sits inside the strip. Between the recorded dimension and a field locate, you know exactly how much room you have.

Common questions about easement width

How wide is a standard utility easement?: Most residential utility easements are 10 to 20 feet wide, and 10 feet is the usual figure for a buried service line. Overhead distribution lines commonly take 20 feet, and high-voltage transmission corridors run from 50 to 200 feet. The controlling number is whatever your recorded easement or subdivision plat says, not the convention.
Where is the easement measured from?: Almost always from the center of the facility, so half the width falls on each side of the pipe, cable or pole line. Rear-lot easements are often split along a shared boundary, giving each neighbor half the strip. Road rights-of-way are measured from the roadway centerline, which is why the right-of-way line usually sits behind the sidewalk, inside what looks like your lawn.
Can I build a fence or shed inside an easement?: A fence is often tolerated if the utility can still get equipment in, sometimes on the condition that a panel is removable. A shed, deck, garage or anything with a foundation is normally refused, and a utility that has to dig is generally not obliged to put your structure back.
What if my easement document does not state a width?: Older grants sometimes describe a blanket easement across the whole parcel with no dimension. Courts generally limit the holder to what is reasonably necessary for the stated purpose, but that is an argument, not a line on a map. Owners in this position often ask the holder to record an amendment fixing the strip in a defined location.
Does the easement width change what my property is worth?: It can. Value effects come from the share of the lot encumbered, whether the strip blocks the buildable area or a future addition, and what the holder is allowed to do inside it. A narrow side-yard utility strip usually has little effect, while a corridor crossing the middle of a building envelope can be significant.

Find the easements on your own address

A width table tells you the convention. Your recorded documents tell you the truth. Run your address to see the parcel, the mapped corridors and what the county holds.

Check my address free Find my easement document Estimate what it is worth Utility corridor requirements

General educational reference only. Prescription periods and their exceptions change, and several states set the period by case law rather than by statute. Read the linked official code and consult a licensed attorney in that state before relying on any of it.