Office hours 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., 7 days

Costa Mesa, CA Movers

Hourly moves for Costa Mesa apartments, duplexes and houses

2 movers: $139 to $179 an hour

Prices and Costa Mesa rules checked

Who does your move in Costa Mesa

In Costa Mesa, Move & Care sends two movers and one of our trucks for $139 to $179 an hour, booked through the Irvine office. We are the carrier on every job, not a broker.

That hourly figure covers the crew, the truck, gas and tolls, moving blankets, and taking down a bed frame or table too wide for a doorway. The clock has a 3-hour floor, then counts quarter hours, and the $50 equipment charge comes once per move. Packers, cartons and Full Value Protection are extras you choose. If a piece gets damaged, you and the crew fill in a Damage Report before they leave, and basic coverage pays 60 cents a pound for each article.

The city's General Plan draft describes the old Eastside and Westside subdivisions as long, narrow lots, often a line of homes on one side and the driveway on the other. The truck then parks at the street, and the dolly trips along the driveway count as billed time.

Plan on 3 to 5 hours with two movers for a 1-bedroom apartment, and 6 to 8 with three for a 3-bedroom house. The form above wants the moving date, the number of bedrooms and a ZIP code for each end; before we price a big house, we see it by video call or in person. A complex that wants a certificate of insurance sends us its wording, and the COI comes from us. Booking the elevator or loading area is up to you.

Four Move and Care movers lined up in front of a branded moving truck
  • Our own trucks, not a brokerUSDOT #3212621, MC #1018431
  • Billed by the hour3-hour minimum, then 15-minute steps
  • Own trucks and crewsNo broker hands your move on
  • Basic coverage60 cents per pound per article

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What Costa Mesa movers cost with us

Starting prices by the hour. A busy date costs more than a quiet one, and your written estimate shows the rate for your date.

Choose a move to see its starting price
By the hour

Your Costa Mesa move

Starting prices. From $139 / hour, 2 movers and a truck, for a studio or 1 bedroom. Busy date: $179.

Bigger crews

  • 3 movers and a truck$179 / hour 2 bedrooms
  • 4 movers and a truck$219 / hour 3 bedrooms or a house

How it's billed

  • Minimum3 hours Then 15-minute steps
  • Equipment charge$50 Once per move
  • Stairs, elevatorsNo fee Counted as time
How is my price set?
  1. Tell us your home and your dateHome size, both addresses, stairs and elevators.
  2. Get your crew and rate in writingWith the minimum, before you book.
  3. Pay for the time we workIn 15-minute steps after the minimum.

Added items or services can change the price.

Get my local price
By the hour

Your labor-only move

Starting prices. From $109 / hour, 2 movers, your rental truck or pod. Busy date: $139.

How it's billed

  • Minimum2 hours
  • Stairs, elevatorsNo fee Counted as time

Different from a full move

  • Truck and fuelYours Rent a truck or book a pod
  • DrivingYou drive
  • Blankets, dollies and strapsIncluded
How is my price set?
  1. Tell us what loads and whereYour truck, pod or storage unit, and the home size.
  2. Get your rate in writingWith the minimum, before you book.
  3. We load, you driveIn 15-minute steps after the minimum.

Added items or services can change the price.

Get my labor price
  • The end of the month and the summer book up first, so those dates cost more. Drag the truck on the receipt to see how far a rate can move.

Three Costa Mesa moves, figured at our hourly rates

Six in ten Costa Mesa homes are rented, and two bedrooms is the most common size (Census ACS 2020 to 2024). These three moves come up often here, priced at the Irvine office's rates.

Example estimates
Choose a home size

1-bedroom apartment in a large complex

A complex near Orange Coast College or in South Coast Metro

Crew
2 movers and a truck
Usually takes
3 to 5 hours

$467 to $9452 movers at $139 to $179 an hour, plus $50 once

The crew does

  • Two movers wrap the sofa and the mattress inside the unit, take the bed frame apart, and follow the route to the truck that the leasing office gives us.

You get ready

  • Reserve the elevator or the loading area with the office, and forward the insurance certificate wording as soon as the office sends it.

2-bedroom unit off a shared driveway

A row of homes on a long, narrow Westside or Eastside lot

Crew
3 movers and a truck
Usually takes
4 to 6 hours

$766 to $1,4243 movers at $179 to $229 an hour, plus $50 once

The crew does

  • One mover pads furniture indoors while two roll it down the driveway on dollies to the truck at the curb, so loading keeps going while they walk.

You get ready

  • Ask the neighbors to keep the shared driveway open that morning, and tell us which day the sweeper comes down your street.

3-bedroom house on a postwar tract street

A street of single-family houses, such as those in Mesa Verde

Crew
3 movers and a truck
Usually takes
6 to 8 hours

$1,124 to $1,8823 movers at $179 to $229 an hour, plus $50 once

The crew does

  • Three movers unbolt the bed frames and the dining table legs, wrap every piece, and load the garage last so tools and bikes are the first things off.

You get ready

  • Pull paint, propane and gas cans from the garage before we arrive, since our crews cannot carry them, and leave the driveway empty for the truck.

The low end is a quiet weekday and the shorter time. The high end is a busy date and the longer time. Both include the one-time $50 charge.

Get my local price

What every price includes

A local move is billed by the hours the crew works; a move to another state has one flat price. Both come with everything on this list.

Two Move and Care movers wrapping a dresser in a moving blanket
We pad and wrap each piece while it is still in the room.

  • The movers

    The crew size on your estimate loads, drives and unloads.

  • Truck, gas and tolls

    Transportation is part of the rate.

  • Blankets and wrap

    Furniture is padded before it leaves the room.

  • Disassembly and reassembly

    When a piece has to come apart to fit.

  • Basic coverage

    Up to 60 cents per pound per item.

Priced separately

  • Packing service
  • Boxes
  • Storage
  • Pianos and safes
See packing options

Moving-day rules in Costa Mesa

Street sweeping, the truck on your street, permit parking, the furniture you leave, water service and what the crew cannot carry: who handles each, and when.

Check the street sweeping signs on your block
  • You check the signs
  • The week before

Costa Mesa police ticket cars left on the street during the posted sweeping hours while a sweeper is out. Once the sweeper has cleaned your block, the curb is open again, even inside the posted time. Tell us your sweeping day and we time the truck's arrival for after the sweeper. The city has also skipped residential sweeping in holiday weeks, as it did around Labor Day 2026.

City of Costa Mesa news, street sweeping enforcement (opens a new tab)

The truck does not stay on your street overnight
  • We plan the truck
  • Moving day

The city's list of parking violations includes a commercial vehicle parked overnight and any vehicle left on a street longer than 72 hours. We plan a Costa Mesa move as daytime work, and on a two-day job our truck leaves your street at night. The same list bars using the street to store oversized vehicles, campers or loose trailers.

City of Costa Mesa, common parking violations (opens a new tab)

Ask about guest passes on a permit-parking street
  • You call the city
  • Two weeks before

Some Costa Mesa streets allow parking by permit only, with a set number of permits and guest passes for each home. If yours has permit signs, ask the city's permit parking line how a moving truck can stand there for the day, then tell us what they said.

City of Costa Mesa news, permit parking hotline (opens a new tab)

Book the large item pickup for what stays behind
  • You call CR&R
  • Before moving day

Costa Mesa Sanitary District trash customers get up to three large item pickups a year at no additional charge, 10 items each, booked with the hauler CR&R. Name every couch, mattress or appliance when you call, because drivers leave anything not on the list. Buildings with their own dumpsters use the hauler the property manager hires.

Costa Mesa Sanitary District, Living Green, Spring 2025 (opens a new tab)

Stop the water account at the old address
  • You call the district
  • 2 days before

Mesa Water serves most of Costa Mesa and asks for 2 days' notice to start or stop service by phone. Some streets get water from Irvine Ranch Water District instead, which needs one business day and does not move an account to a new home: stop the old one and open a new one.

Mesa Water District, customer service (opens a new tab)

Get paint, fuel and propane out first
  • You drop it off
  • Before packing starts

Flammable liquids, gasoline and propane tanks stay off our trucks. Orange County accepts household hazardous waste at its collection centers, with sites in Huntington Beach and Irvine, open Tuesday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and closed in rain. District trash customers can book a pickup at the door instead.

OC Waste & Recycling, collection centers (opens a new tab)

We plan the crew around these rules Tell us the building's hours and where the truck can park. The crew size and the time on your estimate follow from them.

Get my local price

Moving services in Costa Mesa

All services
Local movingApartments, duplexes and houses in Costa Mesa, billed by the hour. Packing servicesPackers by the hour for one room or the whole home; materials are billed apart. Moving and storageA place for your furniture when the old lease ends before the new one begins. Office movingDesks, files and office equipment for small businesses and offices. Piano movingUprights and baby grands, padded and carried by a crew sized for the weight. Long-distance movingA move to another state at one flat price, set from your item list.

Know your Costa Mesa moving price before you book.Your crew size and hourly rate in writing, before moving day.

Get my estimate

Moving in Costa Mesa: what to know

Choosing a date, homes built before 1980, and boxes and trash after the move.

On this page
  1. Choosing a moving date in Costa Mesa
  2. Homes built before 1980
  3. Boxes and trash after the move

Choosing a moving date in Costa Mesa

A quiet date sits at the bottom of our hourly range and a busy one at the top, so the date you pick changes the price. In the summer, also check the fair calendar. The OC Fair ran from July 17 to August 16 in 2026, and the fairgrounds ask visitors to arrive early for ticketed events and point traffic to the Del Mar/Fair Drive exit of the 55. If you live near Fair Drive, a morning start keeps the truck ahead of the evening crowd.

Homes built before 1980

About two in three Costa Mesa homes were built between 1950 and 1979, and the median year is 1972 (Census ACS 2020 to 2024). Older homes can have narrow halls, tight turns at the bedroom door and small closets, so a sectional or a king bed frame may need to come apart before it leaves the room. Measure the biggest pieces and tell us about them when you book: the crew size and the hours on your estimate depend on it.

Boxes and trash after the move

Flattened moving boxes go in the blue recycling cart, according to the Costa Mesa Sanitary District. A first week of unpacking can fill it fast. District customers can ask CR&R for an extra trash pickup or a bigger cart, in 35, 65 or 95 gallons. Old phones, laptops and TVs can go to a county hazardous waste center along with the leftover paint.

Questions about moving in Costa Mesa

Didn't see your question? Call (213) 423‑0458, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., 7 days.

Our Costa Mesa range for a two-person crew is $139 to $179 per hour.

For a two-person crew with our truck, a Costa Mesa move costs $139 to $179 per hour, set by the date, with month-end and summer dates priced higher because they fill first. A bigger crew raises the hourly rate: from $179 with a third mover and from $219 with a fourth. The bill counts at least 3 hours, after that every 15 minutes, plus one $50 charge for blankets, dollies and tools. Expect 3 to 5 hours for a 1-bedroom unit in one of the city's large complexes.

With us, 3 hours of the crew's rate plus the $50 equipment charge.

A full move with our truck is billed for 3 hours even when it ends sooner. A small Costa Mesa job, such as a studio or a few pieces across town, often fits inside that time with two movers. If you already have a rental truck or a pod and only need hands, labor only runs $109 to $139 an hour with a 2-hour minimum, when a crew is open that day.

It can be: dates outside month-end and summer sit lower in our range.

It can be. Our hourly rate follows how busy the date is, and the last days of a month and the summer book up first, so those dates sit at the top of the range. A date outside those weeks is more likely to be billed near the bottom. Two Costa Mesa details help on any date: start after the street sweeper has passed your block, and in July and August keep clear of an evening OC Fair event if you live near Fair Drive.

A driveway is best, then the curb in front of the home. Check the posted sweeping hours on your block, and on a permit-parking street ask the city about guest passes first. If your garage opens onto an alley, ask the city first whether a truck may stand there to load, since alley parking is on its list of violations. On the Eastside and Westside, where many homes share a long driveway, the truck usually waits at the street and the crew carries to it.

Movers load, drive and unload. Packers wrap and box your things before that, and with us they are billed by the hour like the move, with boxes and tape charged separately. You can pack the bedrooms yourself and book packers only for the kitchen. After a Costa Mesa move, flattened boxes go in the blue recycling cart of the Costa Mesa Sanitary District.

If the Costa Mesa Sanitary District collects your trash, as it does for houses and buildings of up to four units, book a large item pickup with CR&R and list every piece; you get up to three a year at no additional charge. In a complex with dumpsters, ask the property manager about its hauler. Book it for a day before the move, so the old couch is gone when the crew arrives.

Guides for a local move

Talk to the Irvine office

The team that plans your Costa Mesa move.

Get your moving estimate

Our quote form takes two short steps.

  1. Move date, home size and ZIP codes
  2. Your name, email and phone
Get my estimate

Or call (213) 423‑0458

Moving in your part of Costa Mesa

The city's General Plan names Costa Mesa's neighborhoods and where its apartments cluster. Pick yours to see what it changes for the truck and the crew.

Choose a neighborhood

Eastside

The homes
Older homes in rows on long, narrow lots
Getting the truck in
Many Eastside lots run deep, with a row of houses or units on one side and a shared driveway on the other. The truck waits at the curb, and the crew rolls furniture down the driveway on dollies.
Before moving day
Ask the neighbors to keep the shared driveway clear for the morning of the move.

Westside

The homes
Deep lots, duplexes and small apartment buildings
Getting the truck in
The Westside has the same long lots, plus small buildings where an owner or manager decides where a truck may stand. Alley parking is on the city's violations list, so ask before we plan to load from one.
Before moving day
Ask the owner which door and which stretch of curb to use.

Mesa Verde

The homes
Houses on tract streets, apartments on Mesa Verde Dr E
Getting the truck in
The side streets are mostly single-family homes with driveways. Along Mesa Verde Drive East the city maps high-density housing, so a move there works like a complex move, with a manager's rules.
Before moving day
For a house, leave the driveway empty; for a complex, ask the office about the truck.

South Coast Metro

The homes
High-density apartments in the northeast part
Getting the truck in
Much of the city's densest housing sits here. Large buildings set their own loading areas, elevator times and move hours, and many ask the mover for a certificate of insurance.
Before moving day
Reserve the elevator and the loading area, and send us the building's COI wording.

Near Orange Coast College

The homes
Apartment clusters around the campus, also Vanguard
Getting the truck in
The city maps high-density housing around both Orange Coast College and Vanguard University. Moves here are mostly apartments, so the leasing office decides where the truck stands and which door the crew uses.
Before moving day
Get the office's move-out rules in writing and forward them to us.

Not on the list? Put both addresses in the form. We tell you if we cover it.

Moving near Costa Mesa

More towns we move12 towns
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Moving across the Los Angeles area
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  • We move homes and offices in five states. Local work is billed by the hour with a three-hour minimum, long distance at a flat rate on weight and mileage.

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  • MC Number: 1018431
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