I have moved twice in Austin. The first time I hired movers for $890. The second time I rented a truck and did it myself for $340. The number looks clear. But the self-move took a whole Sunday plus a Monday morning I had to take off work. The movers took four hours on a Saturday. Cheaper is not always simpler. Read through and see which one actually fits your situation before you book anything.
Renting a 10-foot truck from U-Haul is $19.95 a day. That is what it says on the website. That is not what I paid.
My first Austin move was September 2022, leaving the three-bedroom near UT that I had shared with Jake, my first roommate who had found the place and knew Austin rentals well, and Marcus, who had caused enough lease drama by spring that I was glad to be leaving. I was moving to a one-bedroom on East Sixth Street, just me and my stuff. I thought: how hard can this be, I do not have that much. I booked a truck.
My second move was early 2026, from East Sixth to Mueller. By then I knew Austin better. I also had more stuff. I hired a two-person moving crew.
Doing both gave me a real comparison, not a forum estimate. Here is what actually happened.
What the Self-Move Actually Cost Me
The truck rental base price was $19.95. Then came mileage at $0.99 per mile. My move was about 4.5 miles one way, but I needed to return the truck to the same location, so I counted 9 miles. That was about $9 in mileage. Fine.
Then I needed moving blankets because I did not want my monitor to arrive cracked. $10 rental. I needed a dolly because my bookshelf is not light. $10 rental. I forgot to account for fuel, and U-Haul trucks get maybe 10 miles per gallon in a city, so filling the tank back up cost me $18. I also had to buy moving boxes three days before, which I could have gotten free from a neighborhood Facebook group if I had started looking earlier. I spent $47 on boxes.
Wait. Ranjith Roy is my cousin. He came to Austin in 2023 for his MS at UT Austin and lived with me on East Sixth for most of that year. By the time I moved in 2022 he was not here yet, so I actually called a grad school friend. But I am telling you about Ranjith because he helped me practice-pack for my 2026 move before he went back to India in 2024, and that is how I got faster at it.
OK so the 2022 self-move came to about $152. But wait.
I also broke a lamp during the elevator situation. The East Sixth building has a slow elevator. I was rushing because I had the truck for one day. The lamp fell. It was $45. So real total: $197.
And I took a half-day off work Monday because I had not finished unpacking and could not find my laptop charger. That is not a money number I can put in a table but it is a real cost.
What the Hired Movers Actually Cost Me
For the 2026 move to Mueller, I got three quotes. The range was $320 to $650 for two movers for a half-day. I went with the $380 estimate from a company that had real Google reviews, not just five-star reviews with no text.
They arrived at 9am. Two guys, a truck, moving blankets included, dolly included. They finished loading by 11:30am, drove to Mueller, unloaded by 1pm. I stood around handing them water and telling them which boxes were fragile. That was my entire job.
Nothing broke. I did not take any time off work. The whole day was done before 2pm and I had a working apartment by evening.
The self-move in 2022 cost me about $197. The hired movers in 2026 cost me $513. The difference is $316. If you told me to pay $316 to not spend a whole weekend hunched over a truck bed in Austin summer heat, I would say yes without thinking about it.
But I also moved a one-bedroom in 2022. By 2026 I had more furniture, more equipment, more boxes. Comparing the two directly is not perfectly fair.
When Renting a Truck Actually Makes Sense
If you have one room of stuff and one or two people who will genuinely help you move it, renting a truck is the right call. Moving into your first Austin apartment is usually the smallest move you will ever make. A studio or one-bedroom with basic furniture can fit in a 10-foot truck. The whole thing can be done in a few hours.
The math flips when you try to save money by doing it yourself on a large move. More boxes mean more trips up the elevator. More furniture means more risk of injury or damage. And Austin in summer is not the place to be loading a truck at noon.
Here is when I would rent a truck again:
- One bedroom or studio, nothing massive
- At least two other people helping (and they are actually reliable, not “I will be there by 10” people)
- Move distance under 10 miles
- You have a weekend with no work pressure the next day
- You can get boxes free in advance
When Hiring Movers Actually Makes Sense
My coworker Sarah, who works at the same Austin tech startup I joined after graduating, moved from South Austin to North Austin last year with a two-bedroom worth of furniture. She hired movers and said it was the best $450 she had spent. Her husband had a bad back. The movers had the right equipment. Done in five hours.
I will put it this way. If any one of these is true for your move, hiring movers is probably worth it:
- Two or more bedrooms of furniture
- You or anyone helping has a back or knee situation
- You cannot afford to miss work the next day
- You are moving during Austin summer
- You have large items like a couch, bed frame, or desk that two people cannot safely carry down stairs
The hidden monthly costs of renting in Austin already add up fast enough. Throwing out your back the weekend before work is not a cost you want on top of that.
The Stuff No One Warns You About
The truck return time is strict. If you booked for one day and you return it at 6:01pm when they close at 6pm, some locations charge you for a second day. I got lucky. Someone I knew from school did not get lucky and paid an extra $85.
Parking the truck is its own problem in Austin. East Sixth Street has street parking that you share with everyone else. I double-parked with my hazards on for about 45 minutes and got nervous the whole time. Mueller, where I moved in 2026, has loading zones in the apartment complex. Much easier. Check whether your destination building has a loading dock or a dedicated spot before you book anything.
Elevator reservations. Some buildings require you to book the elevator for a move. I did not know this when I moved in. I found out when another tenant knocked on the apartment office door and said the elevator was blocked. The building manager told me nicely, once. Book the elevator in advance if your building has one.
A Note for People Moving From India or Somewhere With Different Furniture
When I first moved to Austin in 2020, I barely had anything. A suitcase, a box of kitchen things, a small desk I bought second-hand. Looking back at my first year grad student budget in Austin, I spent almost nothing on moving because I had almost nothing to move.
By 2026 I had a couch, a bed frame, a standing desk, a monitor setup, kitchen stuff I had accumulated for four years, and boxes of books. Moving takes longer when you have lived somewhere longer. That seems obvious but I did not think about it when I was planning my timeline.
If you are newly arrived and moving your first apartment’s worth of things, the truck rental is fine. If you have been here two or three years and collected furniture, start getting mover quotes early. Austin has a lot of moving companies but the good ones book out two to three weeks on weekends.
What Would I Do Next Time
If I am ever moving a one-bedroom again with normal furniture, I would rent a truck. It is $200 when you count everything honestly, and that is hard to beat.
If I am moving a two-bedroom or more, I am hiring movers and just building that into my moving budget. The upfront costs of moving into an apartment here already include deposit, first and last month, application fees. Adding $400 to $600 for movers is a lot in that moment. But losing a weekend and potentially my back is also a lot.
I would not say one is always better. I would say the size of the move tells you which one to pick.
FAQ
Q: How much do movers cost in Austin for a one-bedroom?
For a two-person crew and a half-day, I have seen quotes from $280 to $500 depending on the company and the time of year. Summer is the most expensive. If you move in January or February you will likely pay less. Get at least three quotes and read the Google reviews, not just the star rating.
Q: Is renting a U-Haul actually cheaper than hiring movers?
Usually yes, but not by as much as you think once you add mileage, blanket rental, dolly rental, boxes, and fuel. I paid about $197 for a self-move and $513 for hired movers. The difference was about $316. Whether that is worth it depends on how much stuff you have and how much time you have.
Q: What size truck do I need for a one-bedroom in Austin?
A 10-foot truck is usually enough for a studio or one-bedroom. A 15-foot truck is safer if you have a couch and a bed frame plus boxes. I used a 10-foot truck for my one-bedroom and it fit but I had to stack carefully.
Q: Should I tip movers?
I tipped $30 per person for a four-hour move. I have heard $20 per person is the minimum most people do. If they handle something fragile well or work fast in heat, tipping more makes sense. It is not required but movers in Austin work hard.
Q: Can I hire movers just for the heavy items?
Yes. Some companies will do a partial move where they only load and unload specific items. I looked into this for my 2026 move because I thought I could handle the boxes myself. The quote for heavy-items-only was $240. I ended up just booking the full move because the total was not that much more and I did not want to be carrying boxes in the heat anyway.
Q: What is the biggest mistake people make on a DIY move?
Underestimating the time. I planned for three hours. It took seven. Once you account for wrapping things, figuring out the elevator situation, doing two truck runs because you miscounted, and cleaning the old place before you hand in your keys, it is almost always longer than you expect. Plan for twice what you think.
Q: Is moving cheaper in winter in Austin?
Yes. May through August is peak moving season here. Prices go up and availability goes down. If you have any control over your move date, January through March is when you will get the best mover rates and the most available truck inventory.
