How Much Do Movers Cost in Los Angeles in 2025?

Written by Move and Care LA

Edited and Fact Checked by Taras Kim

Updated: June 09, 2024

These ranges depend on your home size, distance, and services needed. Below, we break down the details — what influences moving costs in LA, typical price examples, and insider tips to save money on your move.

Average Cost of Local Movers in Los Angeles

Local movers in LA typically charge by the hour. You’ll often see rates like $140–$170 per hour for a 2-person crew with a truck, which is about $70–$85 per mover per hour. Most companies have a 2-3 hour minimum charge, even if your job is small. This means the minimum you might pay for a short local move is around $300–$400. Of course, the total goes up with more movers or more hours. Here are average local moving costs by home size in Los Angeles:

Why such a range? Los Angeles has diverse housing – a minimalist one-bedroom condo vs. a packed one-bedroom with lots of heavy furniture can be a big difference. Time = money with local movers. If movers spend extra hours navigating narrow hallways or waiting for elevators, costs go up. The above figures include the moving truck, labor, and basic insurance, but not extras like packing materials or tips.

Average Cost of Long-Distance Moves from Los Angeles

Planning a move from Los Angeles to another state (or vice versa)? Long-distance moving companies price things differently: charges are based on distance + the weight (or volume) of your shipment, rather than hourly labor. Prices for long distance moves are the usual flat rates. They do not change after the actual work, unlike local moves.

As a rule of thumb, a long-distance move for a 1-bedroom apartment starts around a couple thousand dollars, while a 3-4 bedroom home could be several thousand. Here are some average long-distance cost ranges for moves originating from LA:

Factors That Affect Moving Costs in LA

Why do some people pay $500 and others $5,000+? Several key factors influence the cost of your move:

Home Size & Volume of Goods

This is the biggest factor. Simply put, more stuff equals more work. A large home means more labor hours (for local moves) or greater weight (for long-distance). If you have speciality items (like a piano or a full garage gym), those add volume and often require extra labor or equipment (increasing cost). It’s often recommended to declutter before moving – you’ll lower the weight and possibly drop a price tier on your quote.

Distance & Travel Time

For local moves, distance within LA primarily matters due to traffic – if movers spend 2 hours driving across town, that’s 2 billable hours. For long-distance, the mileage directly impacts fuel cost and driver time. Moves under ~100 miles are usually “local” (hourly) jobs, whereas anything longer may shift to distance-based pricing.

Timing (Season & Weekday)

Timing can significantly affect quotes. Summers are peak moving season nationally, and Los Angeles is no exception – demand is high when families relocate during school breaks. Movers often charge premiums in May through September. Likewise, weekends and end-of-month periods see spikes in bookings (many leases end then). If you book a move on a Tuesday in winter, you might score a lower rate or more flexible timing than a Saturday in July. Some LA movers offer discounted rates for weekday or off-season moves to keep crews busy year-round.

Accessibility & Housing Type

LA’s landscape ranges from high-rise apartments to canyon homes. If your residence has stairs, no elevator, or long walking distances from unit to truck, expect an extra fee. Many movers in L.A. have a stairs surcharge (often per flight after the first) or a “long carry” fee if they must park far and carry items a long way.

Additional Services

Think of these as add-ons to your move. Common extra services include packing (professionals boxing up your belongings), unpacking, furniture disassembly/reassembly, and storage (holding your items for a period). In Los Angeles, full-service movers can pack your whole home, but it might add hundreds for a small place or thousands for a large home. If you opt for these conveniences, they’ll be itemized in your quote.

For example, packing service might add $300 for a 1-bedroom or $1,000+ for a 4-bedroom, depending on quantity of materials and labor. Specialty item handling is another factor – moving a baby grand piano, a hot tub, or a 200-gallon fish tank isn’t in a normal move; you’ll see separate fees for such items because they need extra personnel or equipment (like a crane or custom crate).

Using these services is optional. Packing/unpacking and disassembling/assembling furniture can be done with your own hands. Storage can be avoided by decluttering: sell, give away or throw away anything unnecessary.

Take into account that almost all movers offer flexible additional services. For example, they can pack only a portion of your belongings, whether it's specific items in the kitchen or individual fragile items.

Insurance Coverage

All licensed movers provide Released Value Protection by default (Source), which is basic coverage (only ~$0.60 per pound per item) – not nearly enough to replace most items if damaged. Upgrading to Full Value Protection (where the mover is liable for repair/replacement of items) or buying third-party moving insurance will increase your cost. Some movers charge a flat percentage of the declared value of your goods for full coverage.

For example, insuring a $50,000 load might cost a few hundred dollars extra, but it could be worthwhile for peace of mind. If you’re moving very valuable items (artwork, high-end electronics), factor this into your budget.

Gratuity

While not a mandatory cost, tipping movers is customary if they do a good job. In LA, a common tip is 5–10% of the total move cost divided among the crew. For a small $500 move, that might be $25–$50 to each mover. For a $3,000 move with a big crew, you might tip each mover $100 or more. Cash is appreciated, but some companies allow adding a tip to your credit card payment. Tipping is a way to acknowledge hard work (think of carrying that couch up your narrow staircase!), so include this when planning expenses.

Los Angeles Moving Cost Examples

Sometimes it helps to envision real scenarios. Let’s walk through two example moves in LA to see how costs stack up:

• Example 1: Moving a one-bedroom apartment from Santa Monica to Downtown LA.

  You have a fair amount of stuff (about ~3,000 lbs worth). Two movers handle the job, which takes 5 hours total (including driving through traffic). At ~$130 per hour for 2 movers, that’s $650. There’s no elevator at the destination, so a $75 stairs fee is added. Your total comes to around $725. If you had packed everything yourself and there were no other fees, that should cover it. You might then tip each mover ~$30 (about $60 total). So, ~$785 all-in. If instead you scheduled on a Sunday end-of-month (busy time), the same company might have charged $140/hour, making it ~$700 in labor – not a huge difference, but it shows how timing can tweak the price.

• Example 2: Moving a three-bedroom house from Los Angeles to Phoenix, AZ.

  This ~370-mile move is long-distance. The moving company sends an estimator who calculates you have 8,000 lbs of household goods. The quote comes in as a flat $4,000 (this might include 1 month of free storage, which some movers bundle in). Why $4,000? It likely breaks down to, say, $0.50 per pound plus a travel fee. Now, if you also want them to pack your kitchen and fragile items, that’s an extra service costing, say, $500 more. And let’s say you have a large swing set in the yard that needs disassembly – that could be another $200. Now your move is $4,700. If you decide that’s too high, you could save money by packing yourself and disassembling the swing set beforehand (saving that $700). Or you shop around and get another quote of $4,300 from a competitor. This example illustrates how add-ons and a bit of comparison can change the bottom line.

Cheapest Ways to Move in LA (Alternatives)

Full-service movers are the easiest but priciest option. If you’re budget-conscious, Los Angeles offers alternatives:

DIY Truck Rental

Renting a moving truck and doing it all yourself can drastically cut costs. For example, renting a 15-foot truck from a company like U-Haul or Budget might cost around $40 per day plus a per-mile rate (often ~$0.79/mile locally). You’ll also pay for gas (and big trucks guzzle gas – around 6-10 mpg). If you’re moving 10 miles, mileage is trivial; if you’re moving 300 miles, that mileage charge and fuel can add up. There may be extra fees for one-way rentals (dropping the truck in another city) – e.g., a one-way fee plus maybe $0.50/mile.

DIY moves also come with the cost of your own time and effort (and possibly hiring friends pizza-and-beer). It’s the cheapest on paper, but remember to factor in potential costs like dollies or moving pads (often rentable) and the risk of injury or damage when lifting heavy furniture without pros.

Portable Moving Containers (PODs)

A popular middle-ground is using a moving container service like PODS, U-Pack, or Zippy Shell. They drop off a big container at your place, you load it up (or you can hire labor for just loading), and the company transports it to your new home. In Los Angeles, a mid-size container might cost about $200–$300 per month in rental fees, plus a transport fee of a few hundred dollars each way. For instance, one month rental + delivery for a local LA move could be ~$500 total.

If going cross-country, you’ll get a price that includes line-haul transport – often much cheaper than a full-service mover, because you’re doing the packing and loading. The downsides: you need a place to put the container (driveway or permit for street), and you’ll be doing a lot of the work. But it’s usually cheaper than full-service movers and more flexible time-wise (you can load at your pace).

Hire Labor Only

Another cost-saver is to hire movers for labor only tasks. Services like this (sometimes through local moving companies or apps) let you get a few strong workers to load or unload your truck or container. In LA, you might pay a flat $200–$300 for a couple of hours of loading help, which can be worth it to save your back. This way, you still rent the truck or container yourself, but professionals handle the heavy lifting quickly. It’s a bit of a hybrid approach.

Ship or Sell Large Items

If you’re really budget-focused and have only a small amount to move, consider not moving big furniture at all. Sometimes people sell bulky items (couches, wardrobes) before a move and buy new/used ones at the destination with the money saved from not hauling them. Or, for a long-distance small move, you can ship boxes via FedEx/UPS or use Amtrak freight for boxes – unconventional, but for very small moves it might be cheaper than hiring any mover.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Los Angeles Moving Costs

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