Pricing a moving job comes down to knowing your true costs per job, choosing the right billing model (hourly or flat rate), and adding a margin that keeps you profitable without losing bids. Most new moving companies underprice because they calculate labor but forget about payroll taxes, truck depreciation, drive time, and overhead. Here’s how to build a pricing structure that covers everything and stays competitive.
Know Your True Cost Per Job
Before you set any customer-facing price, you need to know what each job actually costs you to perform. This number is higher than most operators expect, because it includes expenses that don’t show up on a single invoice but eat into every job’s margin.
Direct labor is the biggest line item. For a typical local move with three workers over six hours at $15 per hour in base wages, you’re looking at $270 in crew pay alone. But that’s not the real number. Payroll taxes and workers’ compensation insurance add 25% to 30% on top of wages, bringing that $270 closer to $340 to $350. Workers’ comp alone runs 15% to 20% of payroll for moving companies because of the injury risk. Then add drive time: the 30 to 60 minutes each way your crew spends traveling to and from the job is paid time you can’t bill the customer, costing another $45 to $90 per job.
Truck costs add up faster than fuel receipts suggest. A 26-foot truck gets 8 to 10 miles per gallon, so a 40-mile round trip might only cost $10 to $12 in gas. But budget $0.15 to $0.20 per mile for maintenance and tires, plus $0.30 per mile in depreciation if you paid around $60,000 for the truck and expect 200,000 miles of service life. Commercial truck insurance runs $8,000 to $14,000 per truck annually. Spread across roughly 250 working days, that’s $32 to $56 per day whether the truck moves or not.
Materials and supplies are easy to overlook. Moving blankets cost $3 to $5 per job in wear and replacement when you factor in your full blanket inventory turning over every 12 to 18 months. Shrink wrap and tape run $8 to $15 per job. If you’re providing specialty materials like mattress bags or dish packs, add another $10 to $25.
Overhead is the invisible cost that sinks pricing models. Add up your monthly office rent ($1,500 to $3,000), office staff salaries ($3,000 to $6,000), software and phone systems ($500 to $1,000), marketing ($1,000 to $5,000), general liability insurance ($300 to $600), and licensing and compliance costs ($100 to $300). Total that monthly overhead, then divide by the number of jobs you complete per month to get your overhead cost per job. A company spending $8,000 a month on overhead and completing 60 jobs is carrying about $133 in overhead per move before anyone lifts a box.
Choosing Hourly vs. Flat-Rate Pricing
The standard in the industry splits along one line: local moves are typically priced by the hour, while long-distance moves use flat-rate quotes based on weight or volume and distance.
For local moves, you charge for the number of movers on the crew multiplied by the hours worked, plus a travel fee covering the truck’s drive time to and from your office. This model is straightforward and protects you when a job takes longer than expected, but it also means customers bear the risk of a slow day. Many customers prefer knowing their total upfront, so some local movers offer a flat rate after an in-home or virtual walkthrough. If you go flat rate on local jobs, pad your time estimate by 15% to 20% to account for surprises like narrow hallways, a third-floor walkup, or a customer who isn’t fully packed.
For long-distance moves (generally anything crossing state lines or exceeding 100 miles), pricing is based on the weight of the shipment in pounds and the total mileage. You’ll provide a quote that bundles labor, transport, and fuel into one number. The heavier the load and the farther it travels, the higher the price. Additional services like professional packing, special crating for fragile items, or expanded insurance coverage get added on top.
Building Your Hourly Rate
Your hourly rate needs to cover labor, truck costs, materials, overhead, and profit for every billable hour. Start by calculating your total cost per job using the categories above, then divide by your expected billable hours to find your break-even hourly rate. Add your target profit margin on top.
Here’s a simplified example for a three-person local crew on a five-hour billable job:
- Crew wages (with taxes and comp): $340
- Non-billable drive time: $70
- Truck costs (fuel, insurance, depreciation): $75
- Materials: $20
- Overhead allocation: $130
That totals roughly $635 in costs for the job. Divided across five billable hours, your break-even rate is about $127 per hour. To hit a 20% profit margin, you’d charge around $159 per hour. Most companies express this as a per-mover rate, so $159 divided by three movers comes to about $53 per mover per hour.
Run this math with your own numbers. Your wages, rent, insurance, and truck fleet are different from the example, and those differences can shift your rate by $20 or more per hour in either direction.
Pricing Add-On Services
Specialty services should carry their own line-item charges rather than getting absorbed into your base rate. Undercharging on extras is one of the fastest ways to lose money on jobs that look profitable on paper.
Professional packing typically adds $300 to $2,000 to a job depending on the size of the home and the volume of fragile items. If you’re quoting packing separately, calculate materials cost plus the labor hours your crew will spend packing, and add your standard margin.
Stair charges, long carries, and elevator waits all extend labor time without adding billable hours unless you price them explicitly. Many companies charge a flat fee per flight of stairs (commonly at both the origin and destination) or add a surcharge when the distance from the door to the truck exceeds a set threshold, often 75 feet. Furniture disassembly and reassembly, appliance hookups, junk removal, and oversized items like pianos or safes should each have their own pricing. These tasks require extra time, extra crew members, or specialized equipment, and the customer should see that cost clearly before moving day.
The key rule: identify every variable at the estimate stage. Your crew won’t know what the second location looks like, how long the carry is from the front door to the truck, or whether there’s a freight elevator with a reservation system. Ask these questions during the walkthrough so they don’t become surprises on the invoice.
Giving Accurate Estimates
How you present your price matters almost as much as the number itself. For interstate moves regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, you’re required to provide a written estimate covering all charges, including transportation, accessorial services, and any advance fees. That estimate must be based on an actual or virtual inspection of the household goods, not just a phone conversation.
You’ll choose between two main estimate types. A binding estimate guarantees the customer won’t pay more than the quoted amount at delivery, as long as the scope of the move doesn’t change. If items are added or conditions change (unexpected stairs, need for a parking permit), you must issue a new binding estimate reflecting the updated scope. The customer pays 100% of the binding estimate at delivery.
A non-binding estimate gives the customer a reasonable approximation, but the final cost is determined by the actual weight of the shipment and services provided. The protection for the customer: you cannot require payment of more than 110% of the non-binding estimate at delivery. You can bill the remaining balance later, but you must release the goods at that 110% threshold.
For local moves that don’t fall under federal regulation, you’re still better off providing a written estimate after a walkthrough. It sets expectations, reduces disputes, and gives you a chance to identify the add-ons that will affect the final price.
Setting Your Profit Margin
Most established moving companies target a net profit margin of 10% to 20% per job. New companies sometimes price at the low end to build a customer base, but going below 10% leaves almost no room for the unexpected: a worker injury, a damage claim, a truck breakdown, or a job that runs two hours long.
Track your actual costs on every job for the first several months. Compare your estimated hours against actual hours, your estimated materials against actual usage, and your quoted price against what you collected. This data will show you where your pricing model leaks money. Maybe you’re consistently underestimating three-bedroom homes by an hour. Maybe your stair charge doesn’t cover the extra labor. Adjust your rates quarterly based on real performance rather than gut feeling.
Seasonal demand also affects what the market will bear. Summer months, end-of-month dates, and weekends are peak moving times. Many companies charge 10% to 25% more during peak periods and offer discounts for midweek or mid-month moves. This isn’t gouging; it’s matching your pricing to the demand on your crew and equipment.
Competitive Research
Call or request online quotes from three to five competitors in your market. Note their hourly rates, minimum hour requirements (most companies set a two- to four-hour minimum), travel fees, and how they price add-ons. You’re not trying to be the cheapest. You’re trying to understand the range so you can position yourself within it based on your service quality, equipment, and reputation. A company with newer trucks, uniformed crews, and strong reviews can charge at the top of the local range. A newer company still building its reputation may need to price in the middle while investing in marketing and customer experience.