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Moving cost calculator for a local move
Crew size and hours in, a price range out, built from what movers earn in your state and what moving companies charge per dollar of wages.
Built by Radif Partners · How prices are built · Editorial policy
Local move in Texas
$1,140
Range $963 to $1,308 for 14.0 mover-hours
| Mover wage in Texas (BLS mean) | $18.94/h |
| Revenue per $1 of payroll (moving companies) | $4.30 |
| Implied price per mover-hour | $81/h |
| Crew of 2, per hour | $163/h |
The hourly price is built from what moving companies earn for each dollar of wages they pay (2022 Economic Census), so it carries the truck, fuel, insurance and overhead on average. Long-distance moves are priced by weight and miles instead. How this is calculated.
A local move with two movers working six hours plus an hour of billed driving costs about $1,223 at national wages, with a range of $1,044 to $1,358. The figure is built from two federal statistics. BLS measured a national mean of $20.32 an hour for hand laborers and material movers in May 2025, and the 2022 Economic Census shows that household moving companies took in $4.30 of revenue for each dollar of payroll they paid, which is what covers the truck, fuel, insurance, office and margin. Multiplying the two gives an implied price of about $87 per mover-hour. Your state's mover wage moves it up or down, and the hours are yours to set: they depend on how much you own, stairs, the walk to the truck and how well packed the boxes are.
Why the price is built from wages
No federal survey records what households pay for a move, and price lists differ from one company to the next. What is published is how moving companies make their money. In the 2022 Economic Census, firms classified as used household and office goods moving reported revenue of $20,117,014,000 against payroll of $4,678,982,000, a ratio of 4.30. On average, then, each dollar paid to a crew member comes back as about $4.30 on the customer's invoice. The calculator applies that ratio to the BLS wage of movers in your state, using the 25th and 75th percentile wages for the low and high ends.
The ratio is an industry average that includes long-distance hauling, where trucks and fuel weigh more than on a crosstown move. For a short local job it may overstate the overhead somewhat; for a move with lots of packing materials it may understate it. Treat the result as a reasonable middle, not a quote.
| State | Mover mean wage | 2 movers, 6 h + 1 h driving | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | $21.92 | $1,319 | $1,096 to $1,416 |
| New York | $22.21 | $1,337 | $1,113 to $1,423 |
| Texas | $18.94 | $1,140 | $963 to $1,308 |
| Florida | $19.36 | $1,165 | $1,005 to $1,313 |
| Ohio | $19.71 | $1,186 | $1,035 to $1,308 |
| Mississippi | $17.87 | $1,076 | $892 to $1,266 |
Estimating your hours
The hours field is the one only you can fill in, and it drives the price more than the state does. A larger home with three movers working nine hours plus an hour of travel comes to about $2,621 at national wages. Movers who visit the home or take a video inventory can give hours in writing; ask for them, along with the crew size, the truck size, the minimum billed hours and how travel time is counted. Elevators, long hallways, a third-floor walk-up and furniture that has to be taken apart all add time.
Interstate moves follow other rules
A move across state lines is usually priced by weight and distance rather than by the hour, and interstate household movers come under federal rules enforced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rather than state ones. This calculator does not price long-distance moves; use it for local jobs where the crew bills by the hour.
Keeping a local move inside the range
Pack before the crew arrives, label boxes by room, empty drawers if the company asks, and reserve elevators and parking. Mid-month weekdays are often easier to book than the last days of the month. Get the estimate in writing, check whether it is binding, and compare two or three companies on the same inventory.
Tips, packing supplies and fees for bulky items such as pianos or safes sit outside the hourly rate, and some companies charge a minimum of several hours even for a small job. On moving day, note the start and finish times yourself; with hourly billing, a dispute is easier to settle when both sides wrote the times down. If something is damaged, report it before the crew leaves and keep photos of fragile items taken during packing, since the claim process depends on what was recorded at the time.