Hiring movers vs. renting a truck: an honest cost comparison

Is it cheaper to rent a truck or hire movers?

Usually, yes: a rental truck and your own muscle cost less cash than a full-service crew. NerdWallet’s comparison of DIY and professional moves says renting a truck is often the least expensive option, especially over shorter distances, and that a portable container is a sensible middle ground for long hauls because you save on labor without driving a large truck yourself.

That is worth saying plainly on a mover’s website. Yorkville Movers is operated by Amenity Moving & Storage, a full-service company; it does not rent trucks or offer labor-only help. The useful question is not which line item is smaller, but what the whole move costs you in money, time, risk and days off work.

The rest of this guide prices both paths the same way, so you can decide with your own numbers.

Four ways to move, compared side by side

Each option shifts work, and risk, between you and someone else. The table uses relative cost because real prices depend on your home, distance and dates.

What a rental truck quote leaves out

The daily rate is the smallest part of a DIY budget. NerdWallet’s cost guide, citing Move.org, puts an average local truck rental around $150, then reminds readers to add gas, supplies, taxes and often a per-mile fee. Its DIY guide adds a dolly, furniture pads, tie-down straps and insurance, and warns that you could be liable if the truck is damaged.

• Fuel, mileage and any per-mile charge
• Boxes, tape, stretch wrap, pads, straps and a dolly
• Rental damage coverage, and a check of what your own policy covers
• Extra rental days if loading runs long
• Time off work for packing, loading, driving and unloading
• Food and gas money for friends who help
• A second trip if the truck is too small
• Your back, your floors and your door frames

Truck size matters more than people expect. NerdWallet’s guide sizes a 10- to 12-foot truck for a one-bedroom apartment, 14 to 20 feet for a larger apartment up to a three-bedroom house, and 22 to 26 feet for three- to five-bedroom homes. Undersize it and the savings disappear into a second round trip.

Parking is the local catch. Yorkville’s snow removal rules prohibit parking on any city street for 24 hours after a 2-inch snowfall, and the city can tow illegally parked vehicles, so a rental truck left at the curb overnight in winter is a real risk. Plan to load from the driveway, and keep the rental return time in mind if a storm pushes your schedule.

When doing it yourself makes sense

DIY works well when the load is small, the distance short and the stairs few. If most of these are true, a rental truck is a reasonable call.

• You are moving a studio, one-bedroom or small townhome, not a full house.
• The trip is short, such as across Yorkville or out to Plano, with no overnight drive.
• Nothing in the load needs special equipment: no piano, gun safe or hot tub.
• Two or three healthy helpers can commit to a full day.
• Your dates are flexible enough to absorb a slow day or a rain delay.
• You are comfortable driving and backing a large truck.

Renters are often a good match for this list, and the ACS 2020–2024 figures show 20.2% of Yorkville households rent. A second-floor apartment with an elevator or a ground-floor townhome is a very different job from a four-bedroom house with a finished basement.

If only some of these fit, look at the hybrid at the end of this guide, or at how a crew handles apartment and townhome moves, where stairs and parking decide most of the time.

When hiring movers pays for itself

Full-service movers earn their cost on whole houses, heavy pieces and fixed deadlines. Nearly two in three Yorkville homes, 64.2%, are single-family detached houses, according to the American Community Survey 2020–2024, which usually means a basement or garage full of things that never fit in one rental truck.

• Volume: Amenity sends multiple truck sizes, and full semi trailers when needed, to keep trips down.
• Who handles it: furniture is moved only by Amenity personnel, with pads on every truck, and placed where you direct.
• Your goods alone: on a local move, one customer’s belongings ride on a truck.
• Timing: if a closing slips, your goods can wait in Amenity’s Plainfield warehouse, whether the gap is a night or a season.
• Paperwork: an Illinois mover must give a signed estimate and a bill of lading, so you know the terms before loading.

Long distances tilt the math further. A one-way rental, fuel and hotel nights add up quickly, and an out-of-state move with a licensed carrier comes with federal consumer protections and a crew that handles every carry.

Safes, pianos and hot tubs: where DIY stops

The heaviest items are where amateur moves go wrong, so plan them separately even if you do the rest yourself. By Amenity’s own description a gun safe can run from about 300 to 2,000 pounds. That weight is why its crews bring power dollies, and why you empty the safe, and have it unbolted if it is anchored to the floor, before the crew arrives.

• Gun safes: cleared path, throw rugs removed, contents moved separately.
• Pianos: moved on a dolly or skid board with pads and straps; grands are partly disassembled.
• Hot tubs: drained and disconnected from power first; Amenity also offers removal and disposal.

Some things should not ride in any truck. Illinois’ consumer guide tells you to keep jewelry, cash, important papers and medicines with you rather than on the truck, and our guide to what movers won’t move covers hazardous items and other exclusions.

You do not have to choose all or nothing. Plenty of people rent a truck for the boxes and everyday furniture, then book a crew just for the piano, the safe or the hot tub, because those are the pieces most likely to damage a staircase, a floor or someone’s back. A specialty item is planned and priced on its own at the estimate.

Labor-only help: questions to ask before you book it

Labor-only help means you supply the truck or container and pay people by the hour to load or unload it. NerdWallet’s guide to hiring movers describes it as a common option when you handle or arrange the transport yourself. Yorkville Movers does not offer it, so treat this as a checklist for whoever you hire.

• Who is liable if a helper drops a dresser or dents a wall, and is that in writing?
• Do the helpers bring dollies, pads and straps, or are you renting them?
• Is there a minimum number of hours, and does it include their travel?
• Will the same people show up who were booked, and how many?
• Can they disassemble beds and protect floors, or only carry boxes?

Loaders who never drive your goods are not doing the same job as a licensed mover that transports them, so the paperwork and protections you get from a mover’s estimate and bill of lading may not apply. Get the terms in writing either way.

Help paying for a move, and what free really means

Truly free moves are rare, but there is real help for specific situations. NerdWallet’s moving-assistance guide lists several programs; each has its own eligibility rules, so check them directly.

• HUD Emergency Solutions Grants: funds distributed through cities, counties and states for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, which can cover moving costs.
• FEMA disaster assistance: may cover moving and storage when a disaster has made your primary home unlivable.
• Military OneSource: relocation support for service members and their families.
• The Salvation Army: local offices may help with moving costs; eligibility varies by location.
• Your employer: NerdWallet notes many people can negotiate a relocation package when moving for a new job.

On taxes, NerdWallet’s cost guide says that under current law only active-duty military personnel moving under orders can deduct moving expenses. Friends and family remain the most common free labor; feed them well.

A middle path: pack yourself, hire the heavy lifting

The most common way to cut a full-service bill is to do the packing yourself and let a crew carry and drive. On an hourly Illinois move, every hour you take off the crew’s clock is money saved, and packing is the easiest hour to take.

1. Sort firstSell, donate or toss what you would not buy again; less volume means fewer hours.
2. Pack the simple roomsBooks, linens, closets and garage shelves are easy wins. Leave fragile pieces to partial packing.
3. Stage everythingSeal and label boxes and stack them near the door so loading starts the minute the crew arrives.
4. Choose a lower-demand dateMid-month weekdays outside summer are easier to book; see timing your Yorkville move.
5. Price both paths the same wayTotal your DIY list, then get a free written estimate, explained in what happens at an in-home estimate, and compare the two side by side.

If the numbers still favor DIY, that is a fine outcome. If they are closer than expected, the difference is buying back a weekend and your back, and a local moving crew that has carried the same sofa down a hundred staircases.

Keep reading

• The Best (and Worst) Time to Move in Yorkville
• What Happens at an In-Home Moving Estimate
• What to Get Rid of Before You Move
• Moving in a Northern Illinois Winter

Browse the full moving guide library or see every moving service.

Last reviewed November 11, 2026 by the Yorkville Movers team against Amenity Moving & Storage’s published service details and the public sources listed above.