How Much Does a Move Cost in Washington, DC? (2026)

When somebody rings Marcus Payne to book a relocation, the opening question is nearly always about money. Fair enough, and the honest reply: a District move costs whatever the two homes and the streets between them dictate. A studio off a wide Brookland curb is a quick, cheap afternoon; a fourth-floor unit above 14th Street, with the truck fighting for a foot of one-way curb, is a different beast. Marcus came up near Mount Olivet Road in Northeast and ran dispatch for a big regional outfit before putting his own name on a truck in 2012, with a single rule: hand people a firm number to budget on, and never let a meter quietly swell by dinnertime. Below is our 2026 pricing for the city and the wider DMV, how we arrive at it, and the few variables that nudge your total either way.

Two Ways We Price a District Move

Almost every job in town fits one of two billing shapes. Compact, across-town work usually runs cheapest on an hourly crew rate; a full household, or anything heading out to the suburbs, tends to read better as a flat band keyed to bedrooms. We tell you plainly which structure leaves more in your pocket before anyone signs.

What every estimate already includes

However your job is billed, the rate buys our own W-2 crew, the truck, the fuel, and all the gear they bring inside:

• Dollies, four-wheel furniture skates, and ramps chosen for the load and the building
• Quilted pads, shrink wrap, and rated straps over every dresser, headboard, and glass top
• Take-apart and rebuild service for beds, tables, and anything that has to shed its legs to round a pinched rowhouse corner
• $1M cargo coverage riding the job, plus a full-value protection upgrade any time you ask

Hourly crew rates for 2026

On studios, apartments, and quick cross-town hops, your clock begins when we knock and ends when the final carton lands. Nothing padded for travel, no fuel line sprung on you later.

Flat bands by home size

For a whole house, especially anything bound for Arlington, Bethesda, or past the Beltway, a flat band tied to bedrooms is simpler to plan around. Each band assumes a typical load with workable access; stairs, a stretched carry, or a far suburb nudge you toward the high side of the row.

None of these are bait figures. For most of what we carry across the Hill, Petworth, Shaw, and the suburbs, the quote we sign lands squarely in its band, and you hold it well before the truck rolls.

What Drives a DC Move Up or Down

Two near-identical two-bedrooms a few blocks apart can settle a couple hundred dollars off one another, and the gap nearly always lives in the buildings and the curbs more than the cartons themselves:

1. Home size and volume. More rooms is more to wrap, lift, and stack, which is why the bands rise by bedroom. A crammed studio with a garage of overflow can bill like a one-bedroom.
2. Stairs and walk-ups. A third-floor brick walk-up in Columbia Heights without an elevator runs slower and heavier than ground level, and it pulls in more hands and minutes. Rowhouse stoops and the steep interior runs on Capitol Hill do likewise.
3. Access and the truck. No driveway, no rear alley, a one-way street where a 26-foot truck barely fits, or a high-rise in Navy Yard or NoMa with a booked freight elevator and a certificate-of-insurance rule, each one lengthens the day.
4. The parking permit. Most blocks in the city want a Temporary No-Parking sign up beforehand so the truck claims curb at the door. We arrange that permit; pencil in a modest sign-and-filing charge on your estimate.
5. Distance. Crossing town is one thing; a run out to Rockville, Loudoun, or down I-95 is another. Any job leaving the region for good is written as a flat figure, settled and signed prior to loading.

Storage, Packing, and the Add-Ons

Certain jobs want more than a crew and a truck, and each one rides its own itemized line so nothing buries itself in the total:

• Climate-controlled storage sits around $120 to $300 monthly by unit size, kept even against the muggy Washington summer and the parched winter heat instead of baking in a roadside locker.
• Packing comes full or partial: we supply cartons, paper, and wardrobe boxes and label everything, or simply crate the kitchen and artwork and leave the rest to you.
• A piano is one of several heavy specialty items we take on, not a side business: roughly $350 to $520 for an upright and $600 to $920 for a baby grand.

How an Out-of-Region Move Is Priced

Local bands fall away the second a job leaves the District for good. A three-bedroom headed from Petworth to Raleigh, or a condo bound for the Jersey shore, gets priced instead as one locked written total before the first carton goes on the truck. The same hands that wrap your furniture in town carry it off down the road. We never list your job for someone else to bid, and your belongings never pass to anybody outside our own roster. The full mechanics of an interstate relocation live on our long-distance moving page.

I dispatched trucks across this town long enough to know every trick that pads a moving bill, so I built my outfit to run the other way. You get a genuine figure in writing before a single item leaves the house, and we walk the stairs, the curb, and the permit ahead of time. Anyone handing us everything they own should learn the cost at the kitchen table, not at the bumper. We like to say we take the Payne out of moving. — Marcus Payne, owner

Every job rides on $1M cargo coverage. Payne Free Moving is a licensed and insured mover holding US DOT and MC authority for interstate work, registered to operate across the District, Maryland, and Virginia, fielding its own crews and its own trucks with nothing handed off. A household job is walked through on the local moving page, apartments and condos on the apartment moving page, and the neighborhoods and suburbs in range on the service areas page.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much is it to move a one-bedroom in Washington, DC?

A one-bedroom generally falls in the $720 to $1,200 band, or bills hourly at $145 for a two-person crew and a truck. A walk-up, interior stairs, and the parking sign push it up, and we lock the exact figure once both buildings and their access are known.

What is the price to move an entire house?

Plan on $1,200 to $2,050 for a two-bedroom, $2,050 to $3,400 for a three-bedroom, and $3,350 to $5,300 for a four-bedroom locally. Packing, storage, and a distant-suburb haul ride separate lines so the total is fully traceable.

How does the parking permit affect what I pay?

With no reserved curb out front, the crew lugs each item an extra fifty or hundred feet, burning time you are billed for. A Temporary No-Parking sign holds the spot. Our office files and posts it, so a modest sign-and-filing charge shows up on your estimate.

Is there a charge for stairs and walk-ups?

A no-elevator climb or a steep rowhouse run is slower and heavier, so it pulls in extra hands and minutes, more on an hourly day and nearer the high end of the band on a fixed quote. We scout both buildings and name the price beforehand, never at the bumper.

Can you price my move sight unseen?

Generally, yes. Hand us the home size, both addresses, what floor each sits on with any stairs, plus a few photos or a short walkthrough, and your quote returns with every surcharge spelled out. The number we write is the number you owe.