Household Staffing Agency
in Austin
Last updated:
Morgan & Mallet, a luxury household staffing agency serving Austin, places experienced, fully vetted household staff with families across Austin and the Hill Country.
Austin families come to us for nannies and governesses, private chefs, house managers, housekeepers and personal assistants who have worked in high-net-worth homes before.
We only place domestic staff in Austin who are highly experienced and have proved themselves in high-net-worth households before. Our founders worked in household service themselves and understand what excellence in staffing a private home really means.
Tell us about your household and what you need, and we will find the right staff for you.
Placement success rate for our nannies and butlers
Average experience per professional
Vetted candidates in our network
US cities and towns we’ve recruited in
Source: the Morgan & Mallet Household Staff Industry Report 2026, our 2025/26 Household Staff Salaries Annual Report and our candidate database, October 2026. How we count
Why Use a Domestic Staffing Agency in Austin?
Because a domestic placement agency in Austin does the searching, interviewing and the reference checks for you, and only shortlists people for you who have experience working in a home similar to yours.
We carefully check every candidate for trust, professionalism and people skills, to keep privacy and grace in high-profile homes.
American families, says our co-founder Morgan Richez, test a new agency first: “They test you with only one recruitment, and after that, if you do a good job, they say, ‘Okay, now we’ve got five or six people [to hire].’”
One Austin family asked us for a second live-in governess just the day after we placed the first.
Founded by former staff
Founders who started in private service
Laurine Mallet worked as a nanny in London for years, and Morgan Richez worked as a chauffeur for high-profile clients, before they founded Morgan & Mallet in 2015. They built the agency on what they learned inside private homes. Read our story.
“We are very strict with the references. I know from experience, from when I was a nanny, that some nannies who deal directly with families will say, ‘Look, I’ve got just one reference,’ and explain the story. With us, no. There is a process,” says Laurine Mallet.
High vetting standards
How do we vet household staff?
Before you meet anyone, each candidate has a 90-minute interview with us, and we call their former employers to check the past five to seven years of work. We then do a background check through Accurate.com.
“We discover so many fake references, and that’s why the reference check is really important. Most candidates are honest, but some people can lie,” says Laurine Mallet.
Austin Neighborhoods We Serve
Austin is our second-busiest Texas market after Dallas. 24% of our Texas candidate searches since 2022 were for families with homes in Austin.
Tarrytown. Tarrytown has traditional homes mixed with large, modern estates close to downtown. A 2025 Tarrytown nanny search for a client asked for three to five years in high-net-worth homes and preferred candidates already living in Austin.
“When we select candidates, we check their location first. We go on the map and check the journey from their address to our client’s property, to know how long it is,” says Laurine Mallet.
West Lake Hills. Known for the Eanes school district, West Lake Hills has families whose children do a lot of activities, and it’s where nannies are needed. It also has hillside homes that need experienced house managers.
Barton Creek. Built around the Barton Creek Greenbelt, with its big estates, large grounds and home systems that need to be managed. Butlers, estate managers and house managers are popular in this area.
Rollingwood. Large lots with quiet streets and the ability to get to Zilker Park and downtown quickly. Nannies, private chefs and housekeepers are popular here.
We can also place staff in Lake Austin and Lake Travis, Pemberton Heights, Old Enfield and the Hill Country estates around the city.
Source: Morgan & Mallet job briefs, our Texas searches, 2022 to June 2026. How we count
Across Austin
- Tarrytown
- West Lake Hills
- Rollingwood
- Barton Creek
- Lake Austin
- Lake Travis
- Pemberton Heights
- Old Enfield
- Lakeway
Household Staff We Place in Austin
These are six of the roles we place in Austin. Each card links to our full guide, and we also recruit domestic couples, butlers, laundresses and newborn care specialists.
Nannies and Governesses in Austin
Childcare leads our Austin searches: 75% were for a nanny or a governess.
A 2026 live-in governess role we recruited for, caring for an infant and a toddler, preferred a degree in early childhood education or psychology, and the family offered candidates the chance to choose their rotations (when they worked and when they didn't).
Infants and toddlers | Early education | Travel
Private Chefs in Austin
Healthy and clean eating is part of life in many Austin homes.
One 2025 private chef search made Mediterranean cooking “a must,” with high protein, low carb and no processed food, plus parties of up to 25 with only the estate manager's help. It got 41 applicants, about half our US average for private chef searches.
“You need to be able to work under pressure and with speed, which is really important, and to multitask, because the clients receive a lot of guests. Let's say you are a chef: perhaps you can help the butler for an hour, because the other one is already busy,” says our co-founder Laurine Mallet.
Mediterranean | Healthy menus | Parties
House and Estate Managers in Austin
Families who have a ranch or a second home often need to hire an estate manager who can look after more than one property. A private chef we recruited for a client in Austin in 2025 worked with an estate manager.
“Every family is different, because the level is different. The more money you have, the more people or assistants you have as well. If they have five estates, there's certainly a family office that oversees the entire staff,” says Jonathan de Vanderbilt, an expert household staff recruiter in our New York office.
Several homes | Staff teams | Budgets
Housekeepers in Austin
Older homes with luxurious and delicate materials and modern fittings need housekeepers with high-end experience, and large estates can sometimes need a head housekeeper to lead a team.
Asked how families keep a good housekeeper, Morgan Richez says: “It can be a bonus or really good accommodation. If you go back 10 or 20 years, people didn't care about this, because it was easy to find a housekeeper. But not anymore.”
Fine finishes | Head housekeepers | Live-in or live-out
Personal Assistants in Austin
Many principals in Austin we work with work in tech, or venture capital, and their personal assistants manage their schedules.
“As a PA, you need to know the best restaurant, the best place. You need to be on trend every day, compared to before,” says our co-founder Morgan Richez.
Schedules | Travel | Lifestyle
Private Chauffeurs in Austin
A private chauffeur has to know downtown routes, event venue locations and peak traffic, and keep where the family is going discreet.
Security aware | Local routes | Discreet
Source: Morgan & Mallet job ads and applicants, our searches for Austin families, 2025 to June 2026, and all our US job ads in every role, May 2022 to June 2026. How we count
What Austin Families Have Asked Us For
Here are some of the searches we have run for families looking for domestic staff in Austin in the last two years, and how many applied. It can give you an idea of the type of role we recruit for here. As you can see, nannies are popular.
| Search | Year | Applicants |
|---|---|---|
| Live-in nanny governess, Austin | 2026 | 50 |
| Private chef, Austin | 2025 | 41 |
| Live-in nanny governess, second hire for a two-week rotation, Austin | 2026 | 36* |
| Nanny, Tarrytown, Austin | 2025 | 20 |
75% of the searches we have carried out for clients in Austin have been for childcare. The two live-in governess roles we recruited for in the last two years were advertised at $170,000 to $200,000 and $150,000 to $180,000 a year, estimated on 8 am to 10 pm days. These are the highest nanny or governess salaries in any of our US job ads since 2022.
“For us, the perfect match is the background, the experience and the skills, but also the mindset and the personality. Our job is to understand the client’s needs, but also his mindset, his family situation and what kind of candidate he would like to hire,” says Laurine Mallet.
* Still open when we pulled these figures in June 2026, so the final count is higher.
Source: Morgan & Mallet job ads and applicants, our searches for Austin families, 2025 to June 2026, and all our US job ads in every role, May 2022 to June 2026. How we count
How much do household staff
cost in Austin?
Private chef · per year
Our 2025/26 Annual Report puts full-time nanny pay at $60,000 to $120,000 a year in the private households we recruit for, and private chefs at $100,000 to $300,000.
Our governess roles in Austin, in the table below, are well above the nanny range in our report. They were one family’s estimates for live-in days from wake-up to bedtime, not typical nanny pay.
Staff also keep more of what they earn in Austin, because Texas has no state income tax.
“If you offer very good conditions at the beginning, you get the best people, and you can make sure that people will stay with you. If you offer good conditions and you talk to them and communicate well, you can make sure that people will stay at least five years with you,” says Morgan Richez.
| Role we recruited for | Advertised pay |
|---|---|
| Live-in nanny governess, Austin (2026) | $170,000 to $200,000, estimated on 8 am to 10 pm days |
| Live-in nanny governess, second hire (2026) | $150,000 to $180,000, estimated on 8 am to 10 pm days, two weeks on and two weeks off |
| Private chef, Austin (2025) | Competitive, with benefits discussed individually |
| Nanny, Tarrytown (2025) | Depended on qualifications and whether the role was live-in |
Source: our 2025/26 Household Staff Salaries Annual Report, and the pay in our job ads for Austin families, 2025 to 2026. How we count
How it works: Tell us what your household in Austin needs. We search, interview and check, then send you a short list of people for you to meet with.
“The recruiter will ask you some questions you didn’t ask yourself, that you didn’t think about. That’s why it’s very important to talk with a recruiter: they will ask you the right questions, and maybe fix some issues you faced,” says Morgan Richez.
Structured interview
Applicants accepted
Employment history checked
Replacement guarantee
Source: our candidate database, October 2026. How we count
What Austin Employers Need to Know About Texas Employment Law
Texas leaves most household employment rules to federal law, and Austin has just a few city rules of its own. These are the questions families in Austin often ask us about.
What is the minimum wage for household staff in Austin in 2026?
It’s $7.25 an hour, the federal minimum. Texas’s own minimum wage law doesn’t include domestic workers, and Austin has no minimum wage in the city. Its living wage of $22.15 an hour (from October 1, 2026) is only for City of Austin employees and some City contractors. Full-time household staff in the homes we recruit for earn much more than that.
Do I have to pay a live-in nanny or governess overtime?
No, live-in staff don’t have to be paid overtime, but every hour they work must still be paid at least the minimum wage, so be sure to put the hours in writing. If they live out, overtime starts after 40 hours in a week, at one and a half times their usual rate. Our governess roles in Austin went from 8 am to 10 pm.
Source: Morgan & Mallet job ads for Austin families, 2025 to June 2026. How we count
Do Austin families have to give household staff paid sick leave?
No. Austin passed a paid sick time ordinance in 2018, but it never took effect. A Texas appeals court blocked it in the same year, and the Texas Supreme Court declined the city’s appeal in 2020. A 2023 state law now stops Texas cities from making their own leave rules.
Does Austin's anti-discrimination law apply to my family?
Partly. Austin’s city code bans sexual harassment by any employer with one or more employees, so a family with one nanny is covered. Its wider anti-discrimination chapter covers families with 15 or more staff, and employment agencies no matter what their size is, and it gives protections beyond Texas law, such as sexual orientation and gender identity.
Do I have to pay nanny taxes in Texas?
Yes: the federal ones, plus Texas unemployment tax. Social Security and Medicare are due when a single employee’s pay reaches $3,000 in 2026, and federal unemployment tax once you pay $1,000 or more in any calendar quarter. Texas has no income tax, but its unemployment tax starts at that same quarterly $1,000, and new hires need to be reported to the state within 20 days.
How we help: We can introduce families in Austin to legal and payroll advisors for contracts, W-2 classification and Texas Workforce Commission filings.
General guidance only, not legal advice: confirm the current rules with the Texas Workforce Commission and IRS Publication 926 before you hire.
What Families in Austin Look For in Household Staff
From our Austin searches and the families we talk to, these are the six things that are most important.
Discretion
All of our candidate searches in Austin asked for discretion, and the live-in governess roles had an NDA.
“Sometimes household staff take pictures and post them on social media, which is really bad for discretion and for security. Or they say on social media that their employer is on holiday, and someone can understand that the property is completely empty,” says Morgan Richez.
Formal Training
Childcare roles here often need the person who takes the role to have had formal training. All of our childcare searches in Austin asked for it, and the 2026 governess roles preferred a degree in early childhood education or psychology.
Ready to Travel
All of our childcare searches for families in Austin had travel with the family, at home and abroad, as a requirement, and the 2026 roles needed a valid passport.
At Home With Smart Homes
In Austin’s “Silicon Hills,” many homes have smart systems for security, lighting, climate and entertainment. Staff need to know how to work that technology, or at least be comfortable learning it, while also respecting the privacy families expect.
Relaxed and Humble
We find that families we hire for in Austin want staff who are very capable but relaxed, friendly and adaptable, ready for a formal dinner one night and a casual evening or a kids’ sports day the next.
In It for the Long Term
Every private household staff role in Austin we have recruited for has been full-time and permanent. Families here want staff who will stay for years and grow with the household.
Source: Morgan & Mallet job briefs, our searches for Austin families, 2025 to June 2026. How we count
“Mindset, lifestyle, attitude and behavior are much more important than qualifications and skills, because you can learn skills, you can improve yourself, but if you don't have the right attitude, that's completely over.”
Laurine Mallet
Co-founder, Morgan & Mallet
Contact our New York office
New York, United States
260 Madison Ave, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10016
Meet Your USA Regional Team
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a nanny or governess cost in Austin?
Most full-time nannies in the homes we recruit for earn between $60,000 and $120,000 a year.
Governess roles with long live-in days can pay far more. Our 2026 governess role in Austin was advertised at $170,000 to $200,000, estimated on 8 am to 10 pm days. See our guide to hiring a nanny.
How much does a private chef cost in Austin?
A full-time private chef earns $100,000 to $300,000 a year in the private households we recruit for. For a one-off dinner, chefs in Austin usually charge per guest instead.
What is a two-weeks-on, two-weeks-off rotation?
It’s a way to cover a live-in role all year with two people. Each one works two weeks in the home, then has two weeks off. One family in Austin asked us for a second live-in governess so the two could share the role like this.
“It’s in rotation: you work two weeks every day, and after that you’ve got two weeks off,” says Laurine Mallet.
Are live-in roles common in Austin?
Half of our searches in Austin for clients were for live-in staff, and every live-in role included a private bedroom and bathroom in the family home. Live-in suits families who need someone on hand all the time.
How long does it take to hire household staff in Austin?
It depends on the role. We placed the first of our live-in governesses in Austin 12 days after the ad went live. For senior roles, our Annual Report suggests planning four to six months ahead.
“We never work in a rush, because a recruitment has to be done with quality, and we can do that quickly. Sometimes we need to check the references, call the contacts and check the criminal record, to make sure this is someone serious,” says Morgan Richez.
Which Austin neighborhoods do you cover?
All of Austin and the surrounding area, including Tarrytown, West Lake Hills, Rollingwood, Barton Creek, Lake Austin, Lake Travis, Pemberton Heights and Old Enfield. Our searches so far have been for homes in Austin itself, including Tarrytown.
How does Morgan & Mallet vet candidates?
We interview candidates for 90 minutes and check their work history with former employers, and we listen for any warning signs, like someone who talks too freely about a past employer. We have a lot of experience hiring and we can spot potential issues with candidates very quickly.
“I just say she’s not professional enough, because after 30 minutes of interview she started to tell me a lot about the lifestyle of her previous employer. She doesn’t respect the confidentiality, the discretion,” says Laurine Mallet, about a candidate she turned down.
Source: our 2025/26 Household Staff Salaries Annual Report, and our job ads for Austin families, 2025 to June 2026. How we count
Want to work in a private home in Austin? Browse our current household jobs.
Hire Household Staff in Austin
Whether it’s a lakeside home, a house in town or a ranch with an Austin base, we find staff who understand what Austin families expect when it comes to privacy and lifestyle. We have a database of 200,000 candidates, and you can reach our recruitment team at
Source: our candidate database, October 2026. How we count