Sprinkler systems: worth it?

What do you think in terms of cost? I’m just upset at how ugly my lawn is right now with me outside watering for 30 mins

Saved my lawn in The Woodlands last year during the drought. I grew up in South LA and pretty much no-one has them. Never a lack of rain and/or groundwater. Then I moved here 10 years ago and thought I'd never use it. First summer in the house and lawn got scorched by mid-July. Luckily both houses I've had here came with systems installed already. I'd imagine it's in the ~$5k range to install.

Worth it if you DIY it, still worth it if you pay, but the price difference is massive. As mentioned, it won't be under "a couple grand" unless you DIY it. You'll need a Ditch Witch to do it right and in less time, unless you REALLY want to dig those trenches by hand. You can still save about half the cost going the DIY route.

If you can finish the trencher in a day, that's a couple hundred right there. Online I'm seeing between $170 - $320 for a day. Pipes are cheap, but will add up. Sprinkler heads aren't too expensive either. Faucets/waterlines needs to be specific. Could also depend on what type of sprinkler heads you're using. You may need a pump to help run it if you have a big yard that can't fully be covered with the water pressure currently in your home.

I've never done, but have looked up when I eventually want to do one on my own house if it's possible (I have a lot of trees with annoying roots) so others may be able to correct or add on to what I've said. It's really the manually labor that is the biggest cost in this, which is why the DIY route has a bigger cost saving advantage. Once you have those trenches done, connecting the pipes is simple.

I DIY'd a 12 zone system on my property. I had a lot of coverage so I paid an irrigation design guy to draw it up for me. He measured pressure and volume on my well system to determine how many heads i could have. Worth it to me. Really isn't rocket surgery but a yard your size you'll destroy basically most of the grass you have. So add in re-sodding to your expense. Think I paid about $5k all said and done. Design, material, rental and about 15 more trips to home depot. It's absolutely worth it if you're trying to maintain a certain type of grass in your yard.