Local move totals for one to four bedrooms, from three 2026 price guides, side by side.
Checked
Short answer
A local move from a 1-bedroom home costs $300-$700↗ across Australia, and a 3-bedroom home $800-$2,000↗, according to What's The Damage. A 4-bedroom home runs to $1,200-$3,000↗. Sydney sits higher: Hire A
Mover prices a 3-bedroom house at $1,400-$2,240↗.
The bands are wide because the bedroom count is a rough stand-in for the thing you actually pay for, which is hours
on the clock. Two 3-bedroom houses on the same street can be a four-hour job and an eight-hour job: one has a tidy
garage, the other has a packed shed, a trampoline and a piano.
How much does each home size cost to move locally?
Local move total by home size
Source: What's The Damage and Hire A Mover, 2026. Links in the sources list below.Show these figures as a table
Australia-wide
Sydney
1 bedroom
$300-$700
$440-$660
2 bedrooms
$500-$1,200
$880-$1,680
3 bedrooms
$800-$2,000
$1,400-$2,240
4 bedrooms
$1,200-$3,000
$1,960-$2,800
Local move totals by bedrooms, Australia-wide, Sydney and Melbourne
Hire A Mover splits Sydney homes into apartments and houses, and the gap is real money. A 2-bedroom apartment is $660-$1,100↗; a 2-bedroom house is $880-$1,680↗. If you live in a flat with a lift, the apartment line is the
closer guide.
What do removalists charge by the hour?
Most local moves are billed by the hour. Two movers and a truck cost $100-$180 an hour↗ across Australia, with
$140 an hour↗ typical, and a three-person crew costs $140-$250 an hour↗. What's The Damage
also publishes a starting rate for each capital.
Lowest published hourly rate, by city
Source: What's The Damage, September 2026. Links in the sources list below.Show these figures as a table
Sydney
$115 /hr
Melbourne
$105 /hr
Brisbane
$100 /hr
Perth
$105 /hr
Adelaide
$92 /hr
Canberra
$110 /hr
Hobart
$90 /hr
Darwin
$115 /hr
Read those as floors rather than the price most people pay. A starting rate usually belongs to the smallest truck
and the quietest weekday, which is rarely the day you are moving.
How long does each size take, and with how many movers?
Crew size and hours on the job, from Hire A Mover's 2026 Sydney guide.
The hours explain most of the spread. Hire A Mover ties each Sydney total to a crew and a time on the job:
A local Sydney move from a studio or 1-bedroom apartment (2 movers, 2 to 3 hours) costs $440-$660↗
A local Sydney move from a 2-bedroom apartment (2 movers, 3 to 5 hours) costs $660-$1,100↗
A local Sydney move from a 2-bedroom house (2 to 3 movers, 4 to 6 hours) costs $880-$1,680↗
A local Sydney move from a 3-bedroom apartment (3 movers, 4 to 6 hours) costs $1,120-$1,680↗
A local Sydney move from a 3-bedroom house (3 movers, 5 to 8 hours) costs $1,400-$2,240↗
A local Sydney move from a 4-bedroom house (3 movers, 7 to 10 hours) costs $1,960-$2,800↗
So a 4-bedroom house is not simply double a 2-bedroom one. It needs a third mover and a longer day, and that third
mover is billed for every hour: in Sydney they add about $55-$70/hr↗.
What else changes the price on the day?
Packing. Having the crew pack a 3-bedroom home costs $300-$800↗ on top of the move.
How the job is measured. The Queensland Government suggests asking whether the price is based on time or quantity, and where the clock starts↗.
Whether anyone has seen your furniture. South Australia's consumer agency suggests an in-person look at the goods↗ rather
than a phone estimate.
How do I get a number for my own move?
Run your size and extras through the moving cost calculator for a range, then
ask for three written quotes↗ so you can compare like with like. A quote that lands far below every range on
this page is worth a question, not a quick yes.
Editor
Written and checked by [EDITOR NAME - REQUIRED BEFORE LAUNCH]. Every figure on this page was checked against
its source on .
How we source prices.