MOVING PRICING GUIDE
Moving company pricing: how much to charge
The 2026 US hourly rates for a crew and truck, flat prices by home size, long-distance rates per pound, what to add for packing, stairs and pianos — and a free calculator that turns them into a price you can put on your website.
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The short answer
Most local moving companies charge $85 to $210 an hour for a two-person crew with a truck, with a 2–4 hour minimum of $170 to $440 (Storage Scholars, January 2026). HomeAdvisor puts it at $30 to $80 an hour per mover.
By home size, a studio or one-bedroom local move runs $350 to $730, a two-bedroom $1,050 to $1,575, a three-bedroom $1,470 to $2,625 and a four-bedroom $2,100 to $3,675 (Storage Scholars). This Old House's 2026 survey puts the average local move at $1,489.
Long-distance moves are priced by weight and distance: $0.50 to $0.80 per pound (This Old House), where a studio weighs about 2,000 pounds, a one-to-two bedroom home about 5,000 and a three-plus bedroom home 9,000 or more. The average long-distance move is about $4,500 (Storage Scholars) or $3,124 (This Old House).
Charge the hourly rate and the minimum for local work, a written per-pound or flat rate for long distance, and price packing, stairs and heavy items as their own lines — then publish them, because a mover with prices on the website is the one that gets the call.
FREE PRICE CALCULATOR
What should I charge for this move?
Pick a local move by home size for a complete price, an hourly crew and the hours, or a long-distance move by weight. Tick the extras. The range uses the published 2026 US rates in the table below.
Suggested price
$1,050–$1,575
local move, by home size (flat), 2-bedroom (5–6 hours, 3 movers)
A starting range from published US rates — not a quote for a customer. Check it against your own crew cost per hour (the formula below) and your local market before you put it on your price list.
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Put your moving prices where customers look
Add your town, and Zarla builds your moving website from this one line. Then tell the editor “add a pricing section” with your prices, and change them any time.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.
RATES · OCTOBER 2026
Moving rates and prices by home size (2026)
Typical US rates. This Old House's 2026 survey averages: $1,489 for a local move and $3,124 long-distance. In California, Meathead Movers prices two movers and a truck at $175–$325 an hour, three at $225–$400 and four at $275–$475 (2026).
| The job | Typical US price · source |
|---|---|
| Local move, by home size (flat) | Studio or 1-bedroom (2–4 hours, 2 movers): $350–$730 · 2-bedroom (5–6 hours, 3 movers): $1,050–$1,575 · 3-bedroom (6–8 hours, 4 movers): $1,470–$2,625 · 4-bedroom (7–10 hours, 4+ movers): $2,100–$3,675 · Storage Scholars |
| Two movers and a truck (hourly) | $85–$210 per hour · about $340–$840 for 4 hours · Storage Scholars |
| Long-distance move, by weight | $0.50–$0.80 per lb · about $2,500–$4,000 for 5,000 lbs · This Old House |
| Job minimum | $170–$440 · Storage Scholars |
| Per mover, per hour, national range | $30–$80 an hour · HomeAdvisor |
Rates read off each publisher's page in October 2026. The calculator above uses exactly these numbers, and never goes below the job minimum. Full source list below.
ADD-ONS AND ADJUSTMENTS
What to charge for packing, stairs and heavy items
Anything that adds hours or risk gets its own line on the price list.
| What | Typical US price · source |
|---|---|
| Season: peak season, may to september | 20%–30% more · Storage Scholars |
| Full packing service | +$280–$2,200 · Storage Scholars |
| Stairs, long carry or elevator surcharge | +$200–$500 · HomeAdvisor |
| Piano | +$260–$580 · HomeAdvisor |
| Hot tub | +$200–$1,000 · HomeAdvisor |
Where a row shows a sum (a rate × a quantity, or a percentage worked out from published dollar ranges), the arithmetic is ours and the inputs are the publisher's.
THE PRICING FORMULA
How to price a move
Six steps from your crew cost to the number on your price list.
Work out your crew cost per hour
Wages, payroll taxes and workers' comp for each mover, plus the truck — fuel, payment, insurance, maintenance — ÷ the hours you bill a month.
Add overhead per hour
Rent, dispatch, marketing, licensing and the hours you can't bill (quotes, travel, cleaning the truck) ÷ monthly billable hours.
Set the hourly rate and the minimum
$85–$210 an hour for two movers and a truck, with a 2–4 hour minimum of $170–$440 (Storage Scholars). The minimum pays for the drive even when the move is small.
Turn hours into flat prices
For moves you can size on the phone — a one-bedroom, a two-bedroom — estimated hours × your rate becomes a flat price the customer can say yes to.
Price long distance by weight
$0.50–$0.80 per pound (This Old House), or a flat price built from the weight bands: about 2,000 lb for a studio, 5,000 for one to two bedrooms, 9,000+ for three or more.
Add the extras and the season
Packing $280–$2,200 (Storage Scholars); stairs or a long carry $200–$500, a piano $260–$580 (HomeAdvisor); and 20%–30% more from May to September (Storage Scholars).
The formula, worked through
Say it's a two-bedroom local move with a flight of stairs at the new place, in June.
Storage Scholars' band for a two-bedroom move is $1,050–$1,575 (five to six hours, three movers). Add HomeAdvisor's $200–$500 stairs surcharge: $1,250–$2,075. Peak season adds 20%–30% (Storage Scholars): about $1,500–$2,700.
So “two-bedroom moves from $1,050” is a fair line for your price list, with the stairs fee and the summer rate beside it. The arithmetic is ours; the ranges are the publishers'.
By the hour, the same move at $85–$210 for two movers and a truck over six hours is $510–$1,260 — which is why most companies add a third mover and price the bigger homes flat.
What to charge in your area
The ranges on this page are US national figures, and moving rates follow local wages and rent. Meathead Movers' California guide prices two movers and a truck at $175–$325 an hour and a one-to-two bedroom local move at $1,200–$3,500 (2026), well above the national bands.
Across all prices, the Bureau of Economic Analysis puts California at 110.7 against a US average of 100 and Arkansas at 86.9 (2024 regional price parities, released February 2026). The season moves prices as much as the state: 20%–30% more from May to September (Storage Scholars).
In the US, moves that cross a state line need federal operating authority, a written estimate and released-value protection of 60 cents per pound per item as the legal minimum (Meathead Movers cites the same figure); moves inside a state follow that state's rules. Check your state's regulator before you set your long-distance prices. Outside the US, treat the ranges as a shape — an hourly crew rate with a minimum, flat prices by home size, weight and distance for long hauls — and check what local movers list on their own websites.
Put your prices on your website
A price list — even “from” prices — answers a customer's first question before they pick up the phone, and it's the line an AI assistant can quote when someone asks what a move costs near them.
If you build your site with Zarla, tell the editor “add a pricing section: two movers and a truck from $85 per hour, two-bedroom moves from $1,050” and your prices go on the site, in a section you can edit any time. Want to see a finished site first? Browse moving website templates or see how Zarla builds moving websites.
Still setting up? Write your moving business plan, and when the prices are set, read how to get your business on Google.
Moving company pricing: common questions
$85–$210 an hour for a two-person crew with a truck (Storage Scholars, January 2026), or $30–$80 an hour per mover (HomeAdvisor). Most companies have a 2–4 hour minimum. The calculator above prices any number of hours.
$1,050–$1,575 for five to six hours with a three-person crew (Storage Scholars). A studio or one-bedroom is $350–$730, a three-bedroom $1,470–$2,625 and a four-bedroom $2,100–$3,675.
By weight and distance: $0.50–$0.80 per pound (This Old House, April 2026), where a one-to-two bedroom home weighs about 5,000 pounds. Storage Scholars puts the 2026 average long-distance move at about $4,500, and a two-bedroom home moved 500 miles at $2,100–$4,400.
Yes — a 2–4 hour minimum, $170–$440 before extras (Storage Scholars). It covers the drive out and back on a small job that takes an hour.
$280–$2,200 for a full packing service depending on the home (Storage Scholars). HomeAdvisor puts packing materials alone at $270–$2,200, averaging about $1,000.
20%–30% more from May to September than in the off-season (Storage Scholars) — demand peaks with school holidays and lease dates.
In the US, a mover crossing state lines must include released-value protection — 60 cents per pound per item — at no extra charge, and can sell full-value protection on top; Meathead Movers cites the same 60-cent figure. Moves inside a state follow that state's rules, so check your state's regulator.
Yes — your hourly rate, your minimum and “from” prices by home size. Most people hiring movers compare three websites, and the one with a number wins the call. On a Zarla site, tell the editor “add a pricing section” with your prices, and change them any time.
Where these numbers come from
Every range on this page is read off a published source, dated below. They're US figures for residential work — typical, not a rule; your costs and your market come first.
- Storage Scholars — How Much Do Movers Cost? (2026) — dated January 2026, read October 2026
- This Old House — Moving Cost Calculator (2026) — dated April 2026, read October 2026
- HomeAdvisor — How Much Do Movers Cost? — dated September 2026, read October 2026
- Meathead Movers — How Much Do Movers Cost in California? (2026 Pricing Guide) — no date on the page, read October 2026
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — regional price parities by state, 2024 — dated February 2026, read September 2026
Put your moving prices on your website
Add your town and your business name, and Zarla builds the site from that one line. Your prices go in a pricing section you edit by chat.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.