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

Chelsea, MA Movers

Hourly crews for every Chelsea home, studios to houses

2 movers: $159 to $199 an hour

Prices and Chelsea rules checked

Who does your move in Chelsea

From the Boston office, Move & Care puts its own trucks and two-mover crews on Chelsea jobs at $159 to $199 an hour. It is a mover, not a broker, holding Massachusetts license MA DPU 31854.

Walk-up stairs add time to a Chelsea bill, never a separate fee, and the same goes for unbolting a bed frame too wide for a hallway. Extras happen only on request: someone to pack, the boxes, Full Value Protection, or a hoist. The bill starts at 3 hours, then runs in 15-minute steps, with one $50 equipment charge. Anything scratched is recorded on a Damage Report at the new address while our crew is still there.

About half of Chelsea's homes were built before 1940, many as two- to four-unit houses (Census ACS 2024). Expect three movers for 5 to 7 hours on a 2-bedroom floor of one, and two movers for 4 to 5 on a 1-bedroom in a newer elevator building. Booking starts with the form: your date, the home's size, the ZIP code you leave and the one you reach. Larger houses get a video or on-site look first.

Renting? Chelsea requires your landlord to pass a city habitability inspection before new tenants move in, so confirm it is booked. Curb space for the truck comes from a moving van permit you request at City Hall at least 10 business days ahead. A building that asks for a Certificate of Insurance gets one from us once its manager sends the required wording.

Four Move and Care movers lined up in front of a branded moving truck
  • Licensed in MassachusettsMA DPU 31854
  • 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 Chelsea 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 Chelsea move

Starting prices. From $159 / hour, 2 movers and a truck, for a studio or 1 bedroom. Busy date: $199.

Bigger crews

  • 3 movers and a truck$199 / hour 2 bedrooms
  • 4 movers and a truck$239 / 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 $129 / hour, 2 movers, your rental truck or pod. Busy date: $159.

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 Chelsea homes and the crew each one needs

A floor of a two- or three-family house, a unit in a newer building, and an owner's house away from downtown, each worked out at the Boston office's rates.

Example estimates
Three Chelsea homes and the crew each one needs
HomeCrewUsually takesExample estimate
2-bedroom floor in a two- to four-unit houseShurtleff Bellingham or Addison Orange, often built before 1940 3 movers and a truck 5 to 7 hours $1,045 to $1,793
Who does what

The crew does

  • Three movers wrap each piece before it reaches the landing, bring the load down the inside stair a floor at a time, and take apart bed frames and tables that will not make the turn.

You get ready

  • Request the moving van permit at City Hall at least 10 business days out, and check which morning the sweeper comes to your side of the street.
1-bedroom in a newer elevator buildingWest Chelsea, near Chelsea Station and Everett Avenue, over a parking level 2 movers and a truck 4 to 5 hours $686 to $1,045
Who does what

The crew does

  • Two movers pad the furniture inside the unit, run the loads down in the elevator, and keep the hallway passable for neighbors.

You get ready

  • Reserve the elevator and the loading spot with management, ask where a box truck may stop, and forward any insurance wording.
3-bedroom single-family housePrattville or Admirals Hill, where owning a home is most common 4 movers and a truck 6 to 8 hours $1,484 to $2,442
Who does what

The crew does

  • Four movers split between the basement and the bedrooms, load the heavy furniture first and stack the boxes around it.

You get ready

  • If you are selling, book Chelsea Fire Prevention's alarm inspection right after the closing date is fixed, while the rooms are still easy to walk through.

How we get the numbers: the crew's hourly rate times the hours, plus the one-time $50 charge. The low end is a quiet weekday and the shorter time, the high end a busy date and the longer time. Stairs and elevators add time; there is no stair fee.

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

What Chelsea asks of a moving day

Rules from City Hall, Public Works and Inspectional Services, with who books each one and how early.

Hold the curb with a moving van permit
  • You apply
  • 10 business days ahead

The permit reserves street space for the truck and is issued per space. Apply online or at the Parking Department, City Hall Room 209, with a photo ID and a proof of address; if you are the one moving in, the lease or the purchase agreement counts. We tell you how many spaces our truck takes.

City of Chelsea 3-1-1, moving van permit (opens a new tab)

Mind the street sweeping morning
  • Nothing to book
  • March through December

Each street has a set sweeping weekday, four times a month, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The odd-numbered side goes on the first and third of those days, the even side on the second and fourth. Pick a date when your curb is not being swept, or put the truck on the other side.

Chelsea Public Works, Street Sweeping (opens a new tab)

Snow emergencies close one side of the street
  • Nothing to book
  • During a declared emergency

When Public Works declares a snow emergency, blue lights flash at major intersections and parking is barred on one side of every street, emergency arteries such as Broadway, Everett Avenue and Washington Avenue included, and the side changes with the calendar year. A ban can start before the storm and outlast the snow, so a winter move needs a backup date.

City of Chelsea, Winter Parking Regulations (opens a new tab)

Mattresses and appliances go out with a sticker
  • You call 3-1-1
  • One to two weeks before

Chelsea trash will not take a mattress or box spring. Buy the city sticker, call 3-1-1 for a Monday or Thursday pickup, and set it out wrapped in plastic by 7 a.m. Fridges, washers, air conditioners and TVs need a white goods sticker from the Treasurer, Room 213. Regular trash takes two furniture pieces a week.

Chelsea Public Works, Mattress Recycling (opens a new tab)

Renters: the unit needs its habitability inspection
  • Your landlord books
  • Before you move in

A Chelsea landlord has to get the unit inspected by Inspectional Services and hold a Certificate of Habitability before new tenants occupy it. Rented condos and units owned by a trust or an LLC are included; only owner-occupied units are exempt. Ask for the inspection date before you lock in ours.

Chelsea Inspectional Services, Housing Code Ordinance (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

What else we do for Chelsea moves

All services
Packing servicesHourly packers for a kitchen, a closet or the whole floor; boxes and tape are billed apart. Move-out cleaningA cleaning crew for the unit you leave, before the landlord walks through it. Moving and storageRoom for your things when the old lease ends before the new one starts. Furniture disassemblySofas, bunk beds and desks taken down to clear a narrow stair, then rebuilt. Last-minute movingA crew on short notice, whenever one has an open day. Long-distance movingLeaving Massachusetts: one flat price, set from your list of items.

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

Get my estimate

Moving in Chelsea: what to know

Moves over the city line, clearing out a rental, parking in your first weeks, and selling a home.

On this page
  1. Short hops to East Boston, Revere or Everett
  2. Clearing out a rental
  3. Parking once you live here
  4. Selling a house or a condo

Short hops to East Boston, Revere or Everett

Chelsea shares a city line with East Boston, Revere and Everett. A move to any of them is a local move with us, billed at the same hourly rates with the same 3-hour minimum. It stays inside Massachusetts, where the Department of Public Utilities licenses household movers; our license is MA DPU 31854.

Clearing out a rental

Three in four Chelsea homes are rented (Census ACS 2024). Clothing, linens and shoes do not go in the trash: Helpsy collects them on Sundays at no charge once you book through 3-1-1. Dried-out latex paint goes in the regular bin; oil-based paint goes to the City Yard on Beacham Street on the first Saturday of the month, April to October (Trash, Recycle and Yard Waste). Buildings of more than 8 units use a private hauler, so ask management about bulky items there.

Parking once you live here

Chelsea's resident permits run through the end of February, and a new resident can ask the Parking Department for a temporary pass. Some newer buildings were approved with less parking than the code asks for, and their residents may not be able to get resident permits; the city publishes the list of those addresses (Parking). After a snowstorm, a space saver has 48 hours before the city may clear it.

Selling a house or a condo

When a home is sold, state law and mortgage lenders call for a smoke and carbon monoxide Certificate of Compliance, which Chelsea Fire Prevention issues after an inspection. Call for the inspection once you have a closing date (Fire Department requirements), and plan our date after it, so the inspector is not working around boxes.

Chelsea moving questions

Didn't see your question? Call (781) 790-4609, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., 7 days.

Two movers with a truck: $159 to $199 per hour, 3-hour minimum.

Our Boston office bills Chelsea moves by the hour: $159 to $199 for a crew of two with the truck, from $199 with a third mover, from $239 with a fourth. The bill covers 3 hours or more, counted after that in quarter-hours, and the $50 equipment charge is added one time. A 2-bedroom floor of a Chelsea two- or three-family house usually means a three-mover crew working 5 to 7 hours, and the sample homes above turn that into dollar ranges.

Three charges are worth knowing before you book: the 3-hour minimum, the 15-minute steps after it, and the one $50 equipment charge. Carrying down three flights in a Chelsea walk-up is billed as time, the same as taking furniture apart. Packing labor, boxes, Full Value Protection and a hoist cost extra only when you ask for them. City costs such as the moving van permit are paid to the city directly.

A quiet midweek date lands near the bottom of our $159 to $199 range for two movers, and month-end dates and summer weekends land near the top. Two Chelsea details matter too. Avoid the morning your street is swept, or the truck loses its spot until 1 p.m., and in winter keep a backup date in case a snow emergency closes your side of the street.

To hold curb space, yes: Chelsea issues a moving van permit per parking space. You apply online or at City Hall, Room 209, with a photo ID and a proof of address (a new lease or a purchase agreement works if you are moving in), and the city asks for at least 10 business days. We tell you how many spaces our truck needs. If your building has its own loading spot, ask management first.

Yes. A full move with our truck books 3 hours at least, even for a couch and a dresser. If you have rented a truck yourself, our labor-only crew loads or unloads it from $129 to $159 an hour, with a 2-hour minimum, blankets and dollies included. That also suits a single heavy piece up a narrow stair.

Yes, and those are some of the shortest moves we run. They are local moves billed by the hour like any move inside Chelsea, so most of the time goes to loading and unloading rather than the drive. If one end is in East Boston, Boston's own rules apply there, so book that curb too.

Guides for a local move

Talk to the Boston office

The team that plans your Chelsea 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 (781) 790-4609

Moving in your part of Chelsea

Choose your neighborhood. The city's 2026 comprehensive plan describes the housing in each one, and that decides where our truck stands and how the load comes out.

Choose a neighborhood

Shurtleff Bellingham

The homes
Two- to four-unit houses on the city's densest blocks
Getting the truck in
The plan names this the most crowded part of Chelsea, built mostly of small multi-family houses. Curb space is tight and most loads come down an inside stair, so the permit and the floor number shape the crew.
Before moving day
Request the van permit 10 business days out and tell us which floor you are on.

Box District

The homes
Blocks cut off by the busway and the rail tracks
Getting the truck in
Few streets here run north to south, and the Silver Line busway and the commuter rail tracks cut across the district. The way our truck reaches your block matters as much as the front door.
Before moving day
Send your cross streets with the estimate request so we plan the approach.

West Chelsea and Everett Avenue

The homes
New 5 to 6 story buildings over ground-floor parking
Getting the truck in
The city's growth area around Chelsea Station. Moves here run through an elevator and a loading spot the building assigns, and residents of some new buildings cannot get a resident parking permit.
Before moving day
Book the elevator and the loading time with management, and send us the insurance wording.

Prattville

The homes
Single-family houses next to larger apartment buildings
Getting the truck in
The plan lists Prattville among the low-density neighborhoods, with single-family homes beside bigger multi-family buildings. A move here can be a house with a basement or a unit with an elevator.
Before moving day
Tell us which of the two you live in, and the floor if it is a building.

Admirals Hill

The homes
Low-density homes, a larger share of them owned
Getting the truck in
Owning is more common here and in Prattville than anywhere else in Chelsea. A seller needs the Fire Department's smoke and CO certificate before closing, and a condo board may set its own move hours.
Before moving day
Ask the association for move hours and any insurance wording before booking.

Soldiers' Home area

The homes
Homes by the Veterans Home, hemmed in by Route 1
Getting the truck in
The plan notes that Route 1, the Revere Beach Greenway (Route 16), big-box stores and the rise of the land cut this corner off from the rest of the city, so a truck has few ways in.
Before moving day
Tell us the street and any tight turns, and we route the truck before the day.

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

Moving near Chelsea

More towns we move12 towns
Revere Everett Malden Andover MA Tewksbury MA Salem Wellesley Somerville North Reading MA Sharon Lynn MA Quincy
Moving across the Boston area
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Move and Care
  • 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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  • MA DPU Number: 31854
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