Local movers cost about $90 to $150 per hour for a two-person crew with a truck, so a typical local move runs about $400 to $1,200 depending on your home size, the crew size, and add-ons like stairs or packing. This guide is for anyone planning a local move across the same metro who wants a realistic number before they call, and for the small moving operator benchmarking what to charge. Local moves are priced by the hour, while long-distance moves are priced by shipment weight and distance. The federal FMCSA Protect Your Move program governs the interstate side, where a mover must give you a binding or non-binding estimate based on the weight of your shipment. Below: the hourly model by crew size, a move-size-to-cost table, the add-ons that move the bill, and one worked example with line items.
- Local movers charge by the hour. A 2-mover crew with a truck runs about $90 to $150 per hour; a 3-mover crew runs about $130 to $200; a 4-mover crew runs about $170 to $250.
- A typical local move runs about $400 to $1,200. A studio or 1-bedroom lands near the low end; a 3 or 4-bedroom house lands well above it once you add crew and hours.
- The add-ons that change the bill are stairs and long carries, packing service, packing supplies, heavy or specialty items, and a travel or fuel fee. Most companies also enforce a 2 to 3-hour minimum.
- Local moves are quoted by the hour; long-distance moves are quoted by weight and distance on a binding or non-binding estimate. Know which model applies before you compare quotes.
How much do movers cost per hour?
Local movers cost about $90 to $150 per hour for a two-person crew with a truck, and the hourly rate climbs with crew size because you are paying for more hands and faster loading. The hourly model is the standard for any local move, where the clock starts when the crew arrives and stops when the last box is unloaded. Most companies bill in 15 or 30-minute increments after a minimum.
| Crew size (with truck) | Typical hourly rate | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| 2 movers | $90 to $150 | Studio, 1-bedroom apartment |
| 3 movers | $130 to $200 | 2-bedroom apartment or small house |
| 4 movers | $170 to $250 | 3 to 4-bedroom house |
A bigger crew costs more per hour but finishes faster, so the larger crew is often cheaper on the total bill for a big home. Two movers on a 3-bedroom house can take 9 hours where four movers take 5, and the four-mover total often comes in lower once you do the multiplication. This is the most common pricing mistake renters make: optimizing the hourly rate instead of the total.
The crew’s wages are only part of that rate. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the mean wage for hand laborers and material movers around $19 an hour, but your hourly rate also covers the truck, fuel, insurance, and the company’s overhead, which is why a two-person crew with a truck bills $90 to $150 rather than $40.
How much does a local move cost by home size?
A local move costs about $400 to $1,200 for most apartments and small homes, and the number scales with the crew and hours your home size requires. The table below maps the common home sizes to a typical crew, hour range, and total for a local same-metro move. These assume ground-floor or elevator access and no major add-ons.
| Home size | Typical crew | Typical hours | Typical total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio / 1-bedroom apartment | 2 movers | 3 to 5 | $300 to $750 |
| 2-bedroom apartment | 2 to 3 movers | 5 to 7 | $600 to $1,400 |
| 2-bedroom house | 3 movers | 6 to 8 | $800 to $1,600 |
| 3-bedroom house | 3 to 4 movers | 7 to 10 | $1,000 to $2,500 |
| 4-bedroom house | 4 movers | 9 to 12 | $1,700 to $3,000 |
Here is how that total comes together for a 2-bedroom apartment, using a 3-mover crew at $150 per hour over 6 hours, plus a travel fee and one flight of stairs:
That $1,125 lands in the upper half of the 2-bedroom band, and the only variables that moved it off the base labor were the travel fee and the single flight of stairs. Swap the walk-up for an elevator and drop the stairs charge, and the same move is $1,050.
For the full residential cost picture, including a DIY truck-rental comparison and how interstate moves are priced, see our companion guide on what a move costs end to end. This post stays on the labor question: what the movers themselves cost by the hour. If you run a moving company, the software a small moving company actually needs covers how to quote these jobs without losing the math in a text thread.
What add-ons change the price of a move?
The add-ons that change a moving bill are stairs and long carries, packing service, packing supplies, heavy or specialty items, and a travel or fuel fee. These sit on top of the hourly labor, and a quote that omits them is not a real quote.
- Stairs and no elevator. Many companies charge a flight fee or simply bill the extra time. A walk-up apartment can add an hour or more of labor.
- Long carry. When the truck cannot park near the door, the crew carries farther, and some companies charge a long-carry fee past a set distance.
- Packing service. Having the crew pack your boxes adds labor hours, often $25 to $60 per hour per packer on top of the move.
- Packing supplies. Boxes, tape, paper, and wardrobe boxes can add $100 to $400 depending on home size if you buy them from the mover.
- Heavy and specialty items. A piano, a gun safe, or a large appliance often carries a flat surcharge of $100 to $400 because of the equipment and risk.
- Travel or fuel fee. Most companies charge for the time to drive from their yard to you and back, sometimes as a flat fee, sometimes as an extra hour (“double drive time” in some states).
The operators we talk to lose more moves to a slow callback than to a high price. A $1,200 two-bedroom usually books the company that answered the phone first and quoted the add-ons honestly, not the one with the lowest hourly rate that surprised the customer on moving day.
How is a local move priced versus a long-distance move?
A local move is priced by the hour, and a long-distance move is priced by shipment weight and distance, which is why you cannot compare the two on hourly rate alone. Local moves, generally within the same metro or under about 50 to 100 miles, run on the crew-times-hours model above. Interstate and long-distance moves use a binding or non-binding estimate based on the weight of your goods and the miles traveled.
The federal FMCSA Protect Your Move program exists because long-distance moving is regulated differently and the estimate types carry real consumer protections. Under a non-binding interstate estimate, for example, the mover cannot require you to pay more than 110 percent of the estimated amount at the time of delivery. Keep this distinction in mind when you collect quotes: a local mover quoting an hourly rate and a van line quoting a weight-based estimate are answering different questions. Our end-to-end moving cost guide covers how long-distance moves are priced by weight and distance in detail, including how to read a binding estimate.
What to do next
To get an accurate moving quote, give the company three things: your home size plus an inventory of the big items (appliances, piano, safe), the access on both ends (stairs, elevator, where the truck can park), and your move date. With those, a local mover can quote a realistic hour range and a total, not just an hourly rate that balloons on the day.
Get two or three quotes, confirm the add-ons and the minimum hours in writing, and compare totals rather than hourly rates. If you are setting rates for a new company instead of paying for a move, our guide on starting a moving company from scratch covers how operators price local jobs, and a moving contract template is where that quoted price gets locked in writing before the truck loads. And if you run a moving company and want to see how operators quote, schedule, and get paid for these jobs on one board from first call to invoice, Service Anchor was built for moving operators running local jobs.
FAQ
How much do movers cost for a 2-bedroom?
A local move for a 2-bedroom apartment typically costs $600 to $1,400, using a 2 to 3-mover crew over 5 to 7 hours. A 2-bedroom house runs a little higher, around $800 to $1,600, because there is usually more furniture and often stairs. Stairs, a long carry, or packing service push the total toward the top of the range or beyond.
How much do you tip movers?
A common tip is $20 to $40 per mover for a half-day local move, or $50 to $100 per mover for a full-day or difficult move. Tipping is optional and based on the quality of the work, not a fixed percentage like a restaurant. If the crew handled stairs, heavy items, or a long day without complaint, the higher end is appropriate.
Is it cheaper to move yourself or hire movers?
Moving yourself with a rental truck is almost always cheaper in cash but costs you the labor, the risk, and the day. A DIY local move can run $150 to $600 in truck rental, fuel, and supplies, against $400 to $1,200 for hired movers. The trade is money for time and back strain, which is why people with a full home or a tight timeline tend to hire out.
Why do movers charge a minimum?
Movers charge a minimum, usually 2 to 3 hours, because dispatching a crew and a truck has fixed costs that a 45-minute job cannot cover. The minimum protects the company on small moves where the drive time and setup eat most of the booking. Even a studio that loads in an hour is typically billed at the minimum.
How much do movers cost per hour?
Local movers cost about $90 to $150 per hour for a 2-mover crew with a truck, $130 to $200 for a 3-mover crew, and $170 to $250 for a 4-mover crew. The clock generally starts when the crew arrives and stops when the last item is unloaded. A bigger crew costs more per hour but often lowers the total by finishing faster.
Do movers charge for travel time?
Most local movers charge for travel time, either as a flat trip fee or as extra billable time to drive from their yard to your home and back. Some states use “double drive time,” where the time between your two addresses is doubled and added to the bill. Ask how travel is billed when you get the quote so it is not a surprise on the invoice.
US Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Protect Your Move: federal consumer guidance on moving estimates, the difference between local and interstate moves, and binding versus non-binding estimates. https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/protect-your-move
US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand (SOC 53-7062): national wage data (about $19 mean hourly wage) for the manual-labor occupation that includes moving crews; labor is the largest single input to a mover’s hourly rate. https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes537062.htm
Last updated: June 2026. First publication: local hourly-by-crew-size model, move-size-to-cost table, add-ons, and a worked example. Scoped to the local labor question; the end-to-end and interstate cost picture lives in the companion moving cost guide.
