How Much Does a Move Cost in St. Louis? (2026)

Almost every call we field opens with the same question: what will this run me? Fair enough. The honest version is that your bill depends far more on the two homes and the run between them than on the pile of boxes stacked in your hallway. A studio leaving a Tower Grove flat with an open curb out front prices one way. A two-flat walk-up in Soulard, where the crew hauls a sofa down narrow brick steps and the truck waits half a block off, prices another. Gina Marchetti grew up on The Hill, packed for an old St. Louis van line as a young woman, and later spent a decade-plus running the dispatch desk and field crews for a large county outfit. She opened First Place Moves back in 2011 to do it her way: one flat rate, put in writing, with no surprise fees waiting at the end.

Two Ways We Price a Move

Most jobs land in one of two shapes. A quick hop across town usually wins on the hourly meter. A full household, packed and stacked, reads better as a set band keyed to your bedroom count. We weigh both and steer you toward whichever total comes in lower. That homework falls on us, not on you.

2026 Crew Rates by the Hour

Our meter begins the moment the crew reaches your front step, then halts once that final box lands inside. The drive between your two homes never runs on the clock.

Flat Pricing by the Size of Your Home

Prefer a single number nailed down ahead of time? Each band below folds in labor, the truck, blankets, and basic take-apart for an ordinary St. Louis household.

What Moves the Number in St. Louis

Two identical apartments can produce very different invoices once the buildings get involved. Here is what we watch on a local estimate.

• Steep front steps. Those classic brick two-families and Lafayette Square row houses add real minutes per trip up and down.
• Downtown loft access. Washington Ave buildings often require an insurance certificate and a booked elevator window, both of which we line up ahead so nobody waits.
• Street parking. Tight brick streets in Soulard and the Central West End mean a longer carry from truck to door.
• Packing. A home already boxed loads quickly; a kitchen our crew packs for you adds both labor and materials.
• Specialty items. Pianos and safes ride with our own movers, never handed to a third party.

And here is roughly how those factors stack up, in the order they tend to swing a bill:

1. Total volume. Each additional room adds wrapping, padding, and trips to the truck.
2. Stairs and elevators. A walk-up apartment three flights up with no lift eats hours that a ground-floor place never would.
3. Truck access. No driveway plus a narrow lane means a longer walk for the crew on every load.
4. Distance. A cross-town hop runs cheap; a permanent haul beyond the metro gets priced as a single locked number.
5. Season. Late spring through August is busy, and a snowy January slot may open up room to negotiate.

Storage, Pianos, and Other Extras

Some jobs need more than a truck and a crew. These are the add-ons we quote most often.

• Storage between closings. Roughly $90 to $260 a month in a dry, climate-steady unit while you finish on the new place.
• Piano moves. An upright runs roughly $290 to $480; a baby-grand lands closer to $520 to $820.
• Safes. Priced by weight, since a 600-pound gun safe and a small fireproof box are not the same job.
• Full or partial packing. We can box your entire house, or only the breakables: glassware, dishes, and framed art.

Pricing a Long-Distance Move

Those local bands stop applying the minute your move crosses state lines for good. A haul up to Chicago, west to Kansas City, or out toward either coast gets built as a single written interstate figure, not a bid that gets shopped around. Our own trucks and crew carry the load door to door, so whoever packs your house is whoever unloads it. The whole process is laid out on our long-distance moving page.

Years at the dispatch desk taught me how quietly a bill can balloon between the estimate and the final handshake. We refuse to run our company that way. You get one flat rate, set in writing, and we finish on time and on budget. — Gina Marchetti, owner

First Place Moves is fully licensed and insured. We hold authority through the Missouri Division of Motor Carrier Services for in-state household moves, US DOT and MC authority for interstate work, and Illinois Commerce Commission authority for jobs across the river in the Metro East. Every job is backed by $1M in cargo coverage. You can read up on house jobs over on our local moving page, condos and walk-ups via the apartment moving page, and every town we cover, from Kirkwood and Clayton out to Florissant, O’Fallon, and St. Charles, on the service areas page.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much for a one-bedroom move in St. Louis?

Budget $590 to $980 for a typical 1BR around town using two movers and a single truck. A ground-floor unit with simple parking sits at the low end; a Soulard walk-up three flights up, or a downtown loft with a scheduled elevator window, pushes higher.

What should a full-house local job run?

A 2BR generally lands between $980 and $1,720, a 3BR between $1,720 and $2,940, and a 4BR between $2,780 and $4,380. Stairs, packing, and heavy specialty pieces like a piano slide you within each range.

Is summer pricier than winter for moving?

Booking demand climbs from late spring into August, so slots fill and rates harden. A weekday in a cold, snowy January is often the cheapest week you’ll find, weather permitting.

Are drive time and fuel billed on the side?

No. Our flat rate folds in both the truck and the diesel. On hourly jobs the meter runs from your door to the final box inside, and nothing extra gets tacked on once we finish.

Is an estimate possible without an in-person visit?

For most apartments and smaller homes, yes, by phone or video call. For a larger house, a stuffed garage, or a piano, a short walkthrough gets you a tighter flat figure.