A local residential move in 2026 typically costs $400 to $2,800 depending on home size and crew, while a 2-bedroom interstate move runs $2,500 to $9,500 depending on weight and distance. This guide is for homeowners shopping for a mover and for moving operators pricing their own jobs. The numbers come from a real cost stack: crew labor at $40 to $60 per mover per hour, truck and fuel at $80 to $150 per job, materials at $50 to $200, plus federally-tariffed weight and distance pricing for interstate work under FMCSA rules. The post breaks down three concrete worked examples, shows the math by crew size, covers the May-to-September peak-season multiplier, and walks through what drives a quote up or down. If you are starting a moving company rather than shopping for one, see our guide to starting a moving company for licensing, startup costs, and your first moves.

  • A 1-bedroom local move averages $400 to $700 in 2026. A 3-bedroom local move averages $1,200 to $2,400. A 2-bedroom interstate move averages $4,000 to $7,500.
  • Two-mover crews run $80 to $120 per hour in most US metros. Three-mover crews run $120 to $160 per hour. Four-mover crews run $160 to $200 per hour.
  • Interstate moves are weight-and-distance based under federal tariffs, not hourly. Expect $0.50 to $0.80 per pound plus a per-mile multiplier on top.
  • Peak season (mid-May through mid-September) adds 25% to 40% to a typical residential quote.
  • Standard tipping is $5 to $10 per mover per hour, or $20 to $40 per mover for a half-day and $40 to $80 per mover for a full-day move.

How is moving cost actually calculated?

Moving cost is calculated as labor (crew size times hourly rate times hours on site) plus truck and fuel plus packing materials, with surcharges for stairs, long carries, packing services, peak-season multipliers, and specialty items. Interstate moves replace the hourly model with weight-based pricing under federal Surface Transportation Board and FMCSA tariff rules, where the carrier files a tariff that publishes the per-pound rate and distance bands.

The five operator-side line items inside a local-move quote are:

  1. Crew labor. Each mover is paid roughly $17 to $22 per hour in wages based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for SOC 53-7062 (Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers). The customer-facing hourly rate is roughly $40 to $60 per mover after the company adds payroll taxes, workers comp, supervision, and margin.
  2. Truck and fuel. A 16-foot or 26-foot box truck runs the company $50 to $100 per job in depreciation, fuel, and insurance. This usually appears as a flat “truck fee” on the quote.
  3. Packing materials. Boxes, tape, paper, mattress bags, and shrink wrap run $50 to $200 for a typical residential move depending on home size. Some companies include a starter set; others itemize.
  4. Insurance and licensing pass-through. A small portion of the hourly rate covers cargo insurance, general liability, and the local moving license fees the company carries. This is invisible on the quote but real in the rate; the same cost component applies to most home-service trades (we break down the comparable structure in our guide to junk removal insurance).
  5. Surcharges. Long-carry fees for moves where the truck can’t park within 75 feet of the door. Stair fees per flight beyond the first. Heavy-item fees for safes, pianos, and treadmills. Disassembly and reassembly time for beds and shelving.
Total local move cost = (crew_size × hourly_rate × hours) + truck_fee + materials + surcharges

This is the same cost-stack approach we walk through in the junk removal pricing framework. The math changes per trade but the structure is identical: labor times time, plus capital cost, plus consumables, plus surcharges. The same discipline shapes how pressure washing is priced per square foot, where the surface-difficulty multiplier replaces the home-size multiplier moving operators use.

How much does a local move cost?

A local move costs $400 to $2,800 in most US metros, with the spread driven by home size and crew size. Local means under 50 miles within the same state, billed hourly. Three worked examples using mid-range 2026 rates:

Example 1: 1-bedroom apartment, ground floor to ground floor, no stairs.

  • 2 movers x $100 per hour x 4 hours = $800 labor
  • Truck fee: $75
  • Materials (10 boxes, tape, paper): $60
  • Total: $935. Real-world quotes often come in lower because efficient crews finish a 1-bedroom in 3 hours flat.

Example 2: 3-bedroom single-family home, one flight of stairs, normal volume.

  • 3 movers x $140 per hour x 7 hours = $2,940 labor
  • Truck fee: $100
  • Materials (30 boxes, tape, paper, mattress bags): $150
  • Stair surcharge: $50
  • Total: $3,240. A well-run crew can shave an hour with good packing prep; a cluttered home adds an hour.

Example 3: 1-bedroom apartment, third-floor walkup with no elevator.

  • 2 movers x $100 per hour x 6 hours = $1,200 labor
  • Truck fee: $75
  • Materials: $60
  • Stair surcharge: $150 (3 flights x $50)
  • Total: $1,485. Walkups roughly double the hours of a comparable ground-floor move.

Rates by metro vary substantially. In Phoenix, Houston, and Tampa, a 2-mover crew runs $80 to $100 per hour. In Boston, Brooklyn, and Seattle, the same crew runs $120 to $160 per hour because labor and parking-permit overhead are higher. The hourly model means inefficiency is the customer’s risk. A 1-bedroom that should take 3 hours can stretch to 5 if the customer hasn’t packed before the crew arrives. Operators pricing this work should publish a written “ready to move” checklist with every quote to protect the time estimate.

How much does an interstate move cost?

An interstate move costs $2,500 to $12,000 depending on weight and distance, priced by federal tariff rather than the hour. A 2-bedroom interstate move running 1,000 miles typically lands at $4,000 to $7,500. The pricing math is fundamentally different from local work because federal regulation applies.

Under FMCSA rules, every interstate mover must file a published tariff with the Surface Transportation Board that defines:

  • Linehaul rate: dollars per 100 pounds (CWT), in distance bands (0-250 miles, 251-500 miles, 501-1000 miles, etc.).
  • Accessorial charges: long carry, stair carry, shuttle service, third-party services.
  • Valuation coverage: the basic 60-cents-per-pound liability minimum (worth roughly $1,500 for a 2,500-pound shipment) plus optional full-value protection.

Worked example: 2-bedroom interstate, 1,000 miles, 3,500-pound shipment.

  • Linehaul: 35 CWT x $145 per CWT (typical 501-1000 mile band, peak season) = $5,075
  • Origin packing services (full-pack option): $800
  • Materials: $250
  • Long-carry origin (parking 100+ feet from entrance): $90
  • Total: $6,215 before valuation upgrades.

Two practical notes. First, “binding” estimates lock the price at booking, while “non-binding” estimates can be adjusted after the truck weighs in at the scale. Always confirm which type a quote is. Second, the FMCSA requires interstate movers to provide the federal “Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move” booklet at booking, which lays out tariff rules in plain English.

How much do movers cost per hour?

Movers cost $80 to $200 per hour as a total quote line in 2026, with the rate scaling by crew size: $80 to $120 for 2 movers, $120 to $160 for 3 movers, $160 to $200 for 4 movers in most US metros. The hourly rate is what the customer pays, not what each mover earns. The split between labor wages and company overhead is what determines whether the company is sustainable.

The customer-facing rate per mover stays roughly constant at $40 to $50 per mover per hour across crew sizes, with slight bulk discounts for larger crews. So a 3-mover crew at $140 per hour is $46.67 per mover; a 4-mover crew at $185 per hour is $46.25 per mover. The operator side of the math is:

  • Mover wage: $17 to $22 per hour (BLS median for SOC 53-7062, 2023 data inflated to 2026)
  • Payroll tax + workers comp: 15% to 30% of wage = $3 to $6 (FICA 7.65% + state unemployment 1-6% + workers comp 2-15% which runs notably high in moving due to lifting-injury risk)
  • Supervision, dispatch, scheduling overhead: $5 to $8 per mover-hour
  • Profit margin: $10 to $15 per mover-hour

Customer rates below $80 per hour for a 2-mover crew should raise a flag. Either the company is underpaying movers (high turnover risk), undercapitalizing the truck (breakdown risk), or skipping insurance (liability risk). Pricing the same way we cover in the junk removal price sheet applies here: cost-plus is the floor; market is the ceiling; the gap is the operator’s choice about what to optimize for.

What drives moving cost up or down?

Moving cost is driven up by stairs, long carries, packing services, peak season, and specialty items, and driven down by off-season scheduling, mid-week dates, and customer-completed packing. The biggest single lever is peak-season timing.

Peak season multiplier (mid-May to mid-September). Demand spikes during the summer move window because school calendars and leases converge. Crews charge 25% to 40% more during peak. A 3-bedroom move quoted at $2,400 in February runs $3,000 to $3,360 in July.

Stair fees. Most movers charge $50 to $75 per flight beyond the first. A walkup unit on the third floor adds $100 to $150 to the labor estimate and roughly doubles the hours.

Long carry surcharges. If the truck cannot park within 75 feet of the door, expect a $75 to $150 long-carry fee. Urban moves with metered street parking or apartments without loading zones hit this often.

Packing services. Full-service packing adds $400 to $1,200 to a typical residential move. Crews can pack a 3-bedroom home in 4 to 6 hours.

Specialty items. Pianos add $300 to $800 depending on type and stairs (a Steinway upright sits at the high end of that range; a Yamaha digital keyboard counts as normal freight). Safes and gun safes add $200 to $500. Peloton bikes, NordicTrack treadmills, and similar specialty exercise equipment add $50 to $100 if disassembly is required.

Off-peak discount levers. Moving Monday through Wednesday, mid-month, or between October and April typically saves 15% to 25%. The same crew, same truck, same hours, less demand pressure on the schedule.

The pricing logic we use for dumpster rental pricing holds here too: the consumer-facing price isn’t a cost number, it’s a market-clearing number tied to scarcity. Peak weeks are scarce; off-peak weeks aren’t.

What to do next

If you’re a homeowner getting quotes, ask each company three questions: (1) Is the estimate binding or non-binding? (2) What’s included in the hourly rate and what’s a separate surcharge? (3) Are you licensed and insured at the state level, and can I see the certificate? A reputable mover answers all three in under five minutes.

If you’re a moving operator pricing your own jobs, the same cost-stack thinking applies whether you’re quoting a single-family local move or a long-haul. Track your actual cost per mover-hour (wages plus burden plus overhead) every quarter and benchmark it against what you charge. The gap is your margin, and most operators we talk to under-track this and undercharge by 8% to 15%. When you do quote, send it on a proper estimate template with an expiration and a deposit, then bill it on a contractor invoice the day the move is done. Pricing only matters if leads are arriving in the first place: for the foundational lead-channel piece see our GBP verification guide.

For operators running 1-to-5 trucks, the bigger leak isn’t pricing, it’s lost time between jobs. We built Service Anchor as a pipeline-driven CRM and field service tool for home service operators, with a moving-trade setup that pre-loads price book line items and job types out of the box. See the moving industry page for the specifics.

FAQ

Why is moving so expensive? Moving is expensive because it’s labor-intensive (every box is handled by a human two or three times), capital-intensive (a 26-foot box truck costs $60K+ new), and time-bound (movers are paid by the hour whether they’re driving, loading, or waiting on a freight elevator). The cost is mostly real labor and capital, not markup.

Are moving companies negotiable on price? Local movers are often flexible on the truck fee, materials, and small surcharges, but the hourly labor rate is usually fixed. Interstate movers are negotiable on accessorials (packing, valuation, storage) but the linehaul rate is set by their filed tariff and cannot be discounted below it.

How much do you tip movers? Standard tipping in 2026 is $5 to $10 per mover per hour, or $20 to $40 per mover for a half-day move and $40 to $80 per mover for a full-day move. Tips are usually given in cash at the end of the move to each crew member directly, not pooled through the company.

Is it cheaper to move yourself? A DIY move with a rental truck typically saves 40% to 60% versus hiring a full-service mover for a local move, but it shifts the labor risk to you. A 3-bedroom home that takes a 3-mover professional crew 7 hours often takes a DIY mover with two friends 12 to 16 hours over a weekend. For interstate moves, the math gets closer because rental truck one-way drop-off fees are steep.

What month is cheapest to move? October through April is the cheapest window to move, with January and February typically the lowest-priced. Off-peak savings run 15% to 25% versus the same move in July. Mid-week (Tuesday to Thursday) and mid-month (avoiding the 1st and 30th lease turnover dates) shave another 10%.

How do moving estimates work? Local moves are usually estimated by phone or online based on home size and inventory. Interstate moves require a binding or non-binding estimate based on a home survey (in-person or virtual video walkthrough). Binding estimates lock the price; non-binding estimates can be adjusted after the actual weight is measured at a certified scale.

Last updated: May 2026. First publish; cost ranges reflect 2026 metro-mover survey data and current FMCSA tariff structure.