What an apartment cleanout costs in Cincinnati

The short answer

Apartment cleanouts are priced either by the item or by how much of the truck the load fills. A quarter truck, about 4 cubic yards, is $241; a half truck, about 8 cubic yards, is $431; a full truck, about 16 cubic yards, is $732. Carry-out from any floor is included, so a third-floor walk-up in Over-the-Rhine or Clifton Heights costs the same as a ground-floor unit in Florence.

Typical apartment loads, priced

These are typical loads, not fixed rules. The quote tool sets the tier from your photos, and you see the price before you book. If you only have a few items, pricing them individually is often cheaper than a tier.

When per-item pricing wins

A lot of apartment cleanouts are not really cleanouts. They are a mattress, a couch and a desk that did not make the move. For that, per-item pricing is usually the better deal. A full mattress, a sofa and a standard desk come to $94 + $126 + $83 = $303. A queen set and a dresser are $143 + $126 = $269. A futon, a bookshelf and a TV stand are $111 + $72 + $96 = $279. Compare those against a quarter truck at $241: if your items add up to more than that and fit in about 4 cubic yards, the tier wins. The quote tool shows both, so you do not need to work it out yourself. Just photograph everything that is going.

Cincinnati apartments are mostly stairs

A lot of the city's rental stock is not elevator buildings. Over-the-Rhine's brick buildings went up between 1865 and the 1880s, and many apartments there are walk-ups with steep, narrow staircases. Clifton Heights, Corryville and the streets around UC are full of converted houses with apartments on the second and third floors. Covington's historic north side and Newport's older neighborhoods are similar. Mount Adams and Walnut Hills add hillside steps between the building and the street. That is where an apartment cleanout gets hard: not the volume, but the number of trips up and down. Carry-out from any floor is part of every JunkRabbit price, with no stairs fee and no walk-up fee.

Buildings with rules

Newer apartment buildings downtown, in OTR condo conversions and in the bigger complexes in the suburbs often have move-out rules. Some require a certificate of insurance before any crew can use the elevator, loading dock or service entrance. Some limit move-out hours or need an elevator reserved. Some charge tenants for anything left beside the dumpster. Ask your building manager what they need before the day. If the building needs a COI, it is emailed within one hour of the request, at no extra charge. Book a two-hour arrival window that fits the building's rules. Crews work seven days a week, from 8am to midnight.

Why the dumpster and the curb fall short

Apartment dumpsters are for bagged household trash, and most leases forbid leaving furniture beside them. Property managers usually bill the tenant for removal, and that charge can come straight out of your deposit. The City of Cincinnati's bulk appointment is free and takes up to five items from the curb, but in a big apartment building there may be no curb space of your own, and the claw truck needs a reachable spot clear of parked cars and wires. On a packed Over-the-Rhine or Clifton street, that can be impossible. The appointment also requires items out no earlier than the night before. In Northern Kentucky, Rumpke areas require mattresses wrapped and sealed in plastic. For many renters, the paid route is the one that actually works.

Move-out timing in a university town

With UC's more than 53,000 students, only about 6,500 of them living on campus, and NKU, Xavier and Miami in Oxford all nearby, lease turnover clusters. Spring and August are the busiest windows around the campuses. If your lease ends in one of those windows, book as early as you can and pick your arrival window. Same-day pickup is available when you book by 4 PM, which helps when a move runs late. Roommates can split one booking: everything in the apartment is priced together, and you divide it however you like. Do it before your walk-through, so the landlord sees an empty unit.

For landlords and property managers

If you manage apartments, the same pricing applies to turnover cleanouts after a tenant leaves things behind. A half truck at $431 clears a lot of abandoned furniture and bags. Property managers can set up an account covering several properties, so you are not re-entering details for every unit. A certificate of insurance for the building is emailed within an hour. There are no volume discounts and no recurring pickups, but the pricing is the same flat list every time, which makes budgeting straightforward. Check your lease and local rules on abandoned property before removing a tenant's belongings.

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