Austin Muralists: 11 Real Mural Projects (And What They Cost)

Real commissions, real price ranges, real five-star reviews – what twelve recent Book an Artist projects, every one with a finished and photographed mural, reveal about hiring a muralist in Austin.

Austin doesn’t just tolerate murals – it runs on them. The “Hi, How Are You” frog on Guadalupe, the “Greetings from Austin” postcard wall on South First, the ever-changing graffiti along South Congress: in this city, paint on a wall is part of the civic furniture. So it’s no surprise that Austinites don’t stop at admiring murals. They commission them – on bedroom walls, backyard fences, office lobbies, optometry practices and even the odd above-ground pool.

We went through recent mural projects commissioned through Book an Artist in Austin, TX and its surrounding towns – Georgetown, Buda, Dripping Springs, San Marcos – to answer the questions people actually ask before hiring an Austin muralist: what do people paint, what does it cost, and how does the process work? Here’s what twelve real projects – each with the finished mural photographed – tell us.

Murals at home: nurseries, fences and backyard walls

Austin’s residential commissions are where the personality comes out.

A floral bedroom mural that changed halfway through – and still got five stars

One family hired muralist Katherine to paint a floral mural for their daughter Hannah’s bedroom – soft botanicals concentrated around the borders of a roughly 12 × 7.5 ft wall, on a budget in the $800-$1,500 range. The design changed significantly between the first sketch and the final wall, which is exactly the kind of thing that sinks a project with the wrong artist. Their five-star review tells the story:

“Katherine was an absolute pleasure to work with!! Our design changed significantly from our initial vision to our final one and Katherine was beyond kind and patient throughout the process. She ensured that we were happy with the final product, taking time to go through color and design revisions with us.”- Verified Book an Artist review, ★★★★★

Backyards, fences and one very Austin pool

Outdoors, the briefs get even more local. One resident commissioned a desert-scene mural with a water element on a 12 × 8 ft backyard brick wall (under $1,000). Another asked Laura for a 14 × 10 ft fence mural with a “Lost in Austin” theme – sunset palette, desert, cowgirl on horseback (under $1,000). And in a brief that could only come from the 78704, one South Austin household wanted their metal Cowboy Pool wrapped in “something colorful you’d find on a wall on South Congress” – Willie Nelson, the UT Tower, the downtown skyline and the Congress Avenue bats were all floated as ideas (a similar budget).

The same muralist, twice: a storybook living room and an 80-foot beach fence

Muralist Michelle’s two Hill Country commissions show the range one artist can cover. In Buda, a family asked for a tree, a tortoise and birds in her hatched storybook line style for a 10 × 9 ft living room wall – a budget in the $1,500-$2,500 range and a five-star review: “Absolutely amazing from start to finish. So professional and listened to exactly what we wanted.” In Dripping Springs, the owners of a beach-themed short-term rental commissioned her to run an aquatic mural along an 80 × 7 ft wooden fence beside the pool, matching the mermaid-and-turtle mosaics already in it – a $5,000-$7,000 project. Their review: “She took our basic ideas and developed beautiful and colorful designs. Her creative work was completed timely and professionally.”

Murals for Austin businesses: from a cheer gym to an optometry practice

Commercial work is where Austin muralists spend most of their scaffolding time – and where budgets scale up.

• The Edison apartment community. Property managers use murals too: Liam repainted the property’s existing Texas mural design to bring a tired wall back to life for a few hundred dollars – that’s his work in the hero image at the top of this article.
• TSO optometry practice. A 14 × 10 ft modern-contemporary mural of people wearing glasses for the dispensing wall, painted by muralist Cammie for a budget in the $1,000–$2,000 range.
• Tech Cheer. A cheerleading gym commissioned a 70-foot logo-and-stripes mural in black and red above the trampoline lane (a low four-figure budget) – proof that murals are as much about branding a space as decorating it.
• Summer Moon Coffee, Georgetown. The coffee chain’s new Georgetown location needed its logo hand-painted onto an exposed brick feature wall. Katherine – who painted Hannah’s bedroom above – won the job for a budget under $1,000 and another five-star review: “The quality of her work was outstanding, and she was great to work with. 10/10 would recommend!”

The five-figure one: a restaurant, inside and out

The biggest verified project in our data set belongs to Urban Bird Hot Chicken in San Marcos. The restaurant inherited a previous tenant’s mural on its building and hired artist Efren to redesign and repaint it to match their concept – a 20 × 15 ft exterior plus patio work across two locations, a five-figure commission documented wall by wall in before-and-after photos. When a mural is the first thing customers see from the road, it stops being decoration and becomes signage, branding, and landmark in one.

What does a mural cost in Austin?

Based on these twelve real Austin-area commissions, here’s how budgets actually landed:

A few patterns worth knowing. Most Austin muralists quote per project, not per hour, and prices generally include design, paint, and materials – quotes in our data explicitly bundled exterior-grade paint and sealants while excluding pressure washing and major surface prep. Larger projects typically start with a deposit and sometimes a small standalone concept fee.

How to hire an Austin muralist

The briefs above started in very different places – some clients arrived with finished designs, some with “a few ideas,” and some with nothing more than a blank wall. All three are workable. Based on how these projects actually ran:

1. Measure your wall (even roughly). Every brief above included dimensions, from a small accent wall to an 80-foot fence – size is the single biggest factor in a quote.
2. Say what the surface is. Brick, drywall, fence, metal pool – each changes the paint, prep, and price.
3. Bring reference images if you have them – but don’t sweat a blank slate. Artists like the ones above regularly develop concepts from scratch for a small design fee.
4. Expect a deposit and a pre-design. The standard flow in our data: deposit, sketch, approval, paint.
5. Compare local artists in one place. Every project in this article came through Book an Artist’s Austin muralist and graffiti artist page, where you can browse Austin mural artists’ portfolios, message them directly, and compare quotes for free.

Frequently asked questions

How much do muralists charge in Austin?

In the real projects above, most residential murals ran from a few hundred dollars up to about $2,500, with large statement pieces like an 80-foot fence reaching $5,000-$7,000. Business interiors ran roughly $800-$2,500, and large commercial exteriors into five figures. Size, surface and design complexity drive the price.

Do Austin muralists supply their own paint?

Usually, yes – quotes in our data included paint, materials and sealants. Surface prep such as pressure washing is typically the client’s responsibility or quoted separately.

Do I need a design before contacting a muralist?

No. Of the projects above, some clients had finished designs, some had “some ideas,” and some had none at all – concept development is part of what a muralist offers.

Find your Austin muralist

Whether it’s a nursery wall, a backyard fence, or a whole restaurant exterior, there’s an Austin muralist who’s already painted something like it.

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