Two companies quote the same move. One says $600. One says $1,400. Neither number means anything until you know what's actually included. Here is a real breakdown, not a "call for a quote."
"How much do movers cost" is one of the most searched questions in this industry, and it is also one of the most dodged. Ask five companies and you will get five different answers, most of them vague on purpose, because a vague number is easier to walk back once the truck is loaded and you have no leverage left. We broke down exactly what that gap looks like in our side-by-side comparison against another Twin Cities mover.
Here is what moving actually costs in 2026, what drives the number up or down, and where the padding usually gets added.
Local move pricing, meaning a move within the same metro area, spans a wider range than most people expect, and it scales fast once you move past a studio apartment. A studio or one-bedroom apartment with a two-mover crew typically lands in the $260 to $1,200 range. A standard two-to-three bedroom home runs closer to $1,000 to $2,500. A larger four-bedroom or larger home with a bigger crew and a full day or more of labor can reasonably run $3,000 to $8,000. For large-scope moves, meaning big homes, multiple stops, extensive packing, or specialty items, total costs of $10,000 to $15,000 are realistic, not exceptional.
Most local movers price by the hour, per mover, with crew rates commonly falling somewhere between $80 and $250 per hour for a standard two or three person crew. Larger crews change that math significantly. A four, five, or six mover crew, the kind a large home or a tight moving window requires, can push combined hourly rates up toward $400 to $600 an hour. Almost every company also has a minimum, usually two to four hours, which means even a small studio move rarely comes in under a couple hundred dollars no matter how fast the crew works.
The gap between quotes almost never comes down to one company being "better" than another. It comes down to what is and is not included in the number you were given. Crew size changes the math completely, since a two-person crew working six hours and a four-person crew working three hours can cost roughly the same but feel like wildly different quotes on paper. Minimums matter too. A company with a two-hour minimum and one with a four-hour minimum will quote very differently for a small move, even at the identical hourly rate.
Then there is the part almost nobody asks about upfront: what happens when the job doesn't go exactly as planned.
The fees that turn a $600 quote into a $1,300 bill are rarely spelled out at the quoting stage. With a lot of movers, these only show up once the job is underway. The most common add-ons:
None of these fees are illegal or even unusual. Trucks do need fuel, stairs do add labor time, and long carries do take longer. The problem is not that these costs exist. The problem is that most companies let you find out about them on move day instead of on the quote — the same way most customers never find out what their coverage actually protects until something breaks. We cover that gap in detail in what "licensed and insured" actually means.
We built our pricing around one idea: you should be able to see the entire number before the truck shows up, not piece it together after. That is why we run three straightforward service tiers instead of a single vague hourly rate that grows fees as it goes.
A flat, quoted price covering the full job, including packing and full protection. You know the number before we start, and it does not move once we do.
Also flat-quoted, built for customers who pack their own boxes but still want the crew, the truck, and the protection handled by professionals.
For customers who want hourly pricing: $75 per hour per mover, a $175 flat truck fee, $35 in materials, $1.29 per mile, and a 3-hour minimum. All disclosed upfront, all in writing.
We do not charge stair, elevator, or fuel surcharges. Floor protection and standard access conditions are part of the quote we give you, not added after the crew is already inside your home.
Hourly is not automatically the cheaper option, either, and we tell customers that directly. A slower, under-crewed job billed hourly can easily cost more than a flat-quoted job with the right number of movers from the start. The right tier depends on the move, not on which number sounds smallest on the phone.
Here is the math on our Basic Hourly tier, worked out so you do not have to. Every hourly move includes the $175 truck fee and the $35 materials fee, plus $1.29 per mile.
| Crew | Hours | Labor | Truck + Materials | Total Before Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 movers | 3 (minimum) | $450 | $210 | $660 |
| 2 movers | 5 | $750 | $210 | $960 |
| 3 movers | 4 | $900 | $210 | $1,110 |
| 4 movers | 6 | $1,800 | $210 | $2,010 |
So the smallest hourly move we do comes to about $660 plus mileage. Those hours are examples, not promises. How long your move takes depends on how much you have and the access at both ends, which is exactly why we ask questions before we quote. If you want a number that will not change, that is what our flat-rate tiers are for.
Regardless of who you hire, a handful of factors drive most of the cost difference between two otherwise similar moves: the size of your home and how much you own, whether the truck can park close to the door or the crew is dealing with a long carry, how many flights of stairs are involved at either end, how far apart the two addresses are (a factor that matters even more on a move across the state), and whether you want packing handled for you or you are boxing everything yourself. The same logic applies to a commercial or office relocation, just at a larger scale. Get a walkthrough or a detailed inventory conversation before you book, not just a number over the phone, and you will get a quote that actually survives moving day.
In Minnesota, timing matters too. May through September is peak season, and the last and first days of each month fill up first because that is when most leases turn over. During those months, plan on booking two to three weeks ahead. From October through April, about a week is usually enough. Winter moves bring their own wrinkles with snow and ice, which we cover in our winter moving guide.
For a local move, a studio or one-bedroom typically runs about $260 to $1,200, a two-to-three bedroom home about $1,000 to $2,500, and a four-bedroom or larger home $3,000 to $8,000 or more. The biggest factors are crew size, hours, stairs, distance, and packing.
Our Basic Hourly tier has a 3-hour minimum. With two movers at $75 per hour each, plus the $175 truck fee and $35 materials fee, the smallest hourly move comes to about $660 plus $1.29 per mile.
No. We do not charge stair, elevator, or fuel surcharges. Everything on our hourly tier is disclosed upfront and in writing.
It depends on the move. A slow or under-crewed hourly job can cost more than a flat-rate job with the right crew size. Our White Glove and Red Glove tiers are flat quotes that do not change once we start, and Basic Hourly is billed by the hour.
From May through September, book two to three weeks ahead, especially for the end or start of a month. From October through April, about a week ahead is usually enough.
ConsumerAffairs, 2026 moving cost data · This Old House, 2026 Moving Costs Guide · Extra Space Storage, average cost of professional movers 2026
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