San Diego moves feel deceptively simple. The weather cooperates, the highways are familiar, and most homes fit the standard suburban mold. Yet the bill at the end can surprise even careful planners. I’ve walked clients through moves from Mission Hills Victorians and La Jolla townhomes to Carlsbad cul-de-sacs. The patterns are consistent: the square footage only tells part of the story, and local quirks like canyon lots, HOA rules, and hallway angles can change cost as quickly as another hour on the clock.
If you’re staring at a 2000 square foot home filled with regular household goods, here’s how to think about the cost, where those numbers come from, and how to control them without turning your life upside down.
What “2000 square feet” means for movers
Movers don’t charge by square footage. They price time, crew size, truck count, and sometimes volume or weight. Square footage is a shorthand to forecast volume and labor. A 2000 square foot home can be a minimalist’s airy space with built-ins and little else, or it can be a family home with a full garage, patio sets, a Peloton, and an attic full of holiday decor. If you want a clean quote, inventory drives accuracy more than square footage.
In San Diego, a typical 2000 square foot single-family home usually translates to 1,200 to 1,800 cubic feet of belongings. That range assumes 3 bedrooms, a living room, dining set, kitchen items, two to three TVs, dressers, nightstands, and some garage gear. Add musical instruments, a full workshop, a large aquarium, or a home gym, and cubic feet climb fast. More cubic feet means either more trips, a larger truck, or a longer load time, all of which push the cost.
How much do movers charge in San Diego?
Local movers in San Diego generally quote hourly rates for moves within the county. As of this year, most reputable companies price crews like this:
- Two movers and a truck: 120 to 170 dollars per hour Three movers and a truck: 170 to 240 dollars per hour Four movers and a truck: 220 to 320 dollars per hour
Permits, fuel surcharges, and weekend premiums may apply. Licensing, insurance, and experience also affect rates. If a price sounds too good to be true, the company might be understaffed, uninsured, or planning to stack your job around higher-priority clients.
For a 2000 square foot home, the sweet spot in San Diego is typically a three- or four-person crew with one 26-foot truck. Two-person crews can handle apartments and partial moves efficiently, but with a full household you’ll pay more in hours than you save in the hourly rate. A four-person crew often reduces total hours enough to justify the higher rate.
What a typical local move looks like in hours
Time is the best predictor of cost for local moves. For a standard 2000 square foot home with average contents and reasonable access, here’s a realistic window:
- Packing day, if you hire it: 6 to 10 hours with a two- or three-person packing team Moving day (load, drive within the county, unload): 6 to 10 hours with a three- or four-person crew
Those ranges assume your move is within San Diego County, not across the state. They also assume no special items, no steep hillside stairs, and no long carries from the truck to the front door. Every half-flight of stairs, every 50 extra feet of walking, and every parking constraint adds minutes that multiply across hundreds of items.
On the job, I’ve seen a ground-floor Rancho Bernardo home load in three hours and unload in three because the driveway could swallow a 26-foot truck and the family had staged their boxes. I’ve also seen Hillcrest moves balloon by two hours because the truck had to park around the corner and the HOA elevator was shared with a delivery crew. The same square footage, two very different time outcomes.
Estimated cost to move a 2000 sq ft home within San Diego
Let’s turn time into money. With a three- or four-person crew, reasonable access, and no unusual obstacles:
- Labor for moving day: 1,200 to 2,400 dollars Packing labor and materials, if added: 400 to 1,200 dollars Materials for DIY packing: 150 to 450 dollars Travel fee or fuel surcharge: 50 to 150 dollars Basic valuation coverage: usually included at 60 cents per pound per item Upgraded valuation (declared value): varies, often 100 to 400 dollars depending on declared value and deductible
Total for a standard local move where movers do the loading, transport, and unloading, and you pack most boxes yourself: typically 1,300 to 2,600 dollars. Add full or partial packing, and the total often lands between 1,800 and 3,400 dollars.
If you’re comparing across companies, make sure you’re comparing the same crew size, the same estimated hours, and identical add-ons. One company’s 170 dollars per hour for a four-person crew can beat another’s 200 dollars per hour for three people if the bigger crew finishes two hours faster. Time saves money.
How much does it cost to physically move a 2000 sq ft house?
This question sometimes means two very different things. If you mean moving the contents of a 2000 square foot home from one San Diego address to another, the ranges above apply. If you mean physically moving the structure itself, that is a specialty project with a different cost universe.
Structural house moves involve lifting the building off the foundation, placing it on dollies, hauling it under a specialized permit, and setting it on a new foundation. In San Diego, the cost can run from the mid five figures into the hundreds of thousands. The distance moved, route complexity, utility drops, traffic control, foundation work, and house construction type all matter. Moving a small single-story bungalow across a flat lot might start around 80,000 dollars including permits and new foundation work. A larger two-story home, especially through urban streets with utility lines and tight turns, can easily exceed 200,000 dollars. That project sits closer to civil engineering than residential moving, and homeowners usually consider it only for historic preservation or when land values and zoning make it pencil out.
Is it cheaper to hire movers or do it yourself?
Short answer: it depends on your time, help, and how well your building access cooperates. For a typical 2000 square foot San Diego home:
- DIY with a 26-foot rental truck for a full household: truck rental for a day ranges from 120 to 200 dollars, plus per-mile charges, fuel, and insurance, usually totaling 220 to 420 dollars. Moving equipment rental like a hand truck, moving blankets, and straps adds 40 to 80 dollars. If you pay a few friends or hire a couple of day laborers, that adds 200 to 400 dollars. Your out-of-pocket might land around 400 to 900 dollars. The hidden cost is time and risk. If you’re not used to carrying a solid wood dresser down a staircase or navigating a loaded truck through a tight driveway, expect the day to stretch, and brace for nicks on walls or your back. Professional crews bring speed, protection, and systems. They also bring liability insurance and valuation coverage if something breaks.
DIY makes sense when you have flexible time, minimal furniture, and short drives. Professional movers make sense when you value your time, want predictable results, or have tight building rules and access constraints. In my experience, the break-even for a 2000 square foot home usually favors professionals unless you already have a reliable crew of helpers and a forgiving schedule.
What are the hidden costs of 2 hour movers?
The phrase “2 hour movers” often appears in ads promising fast, cheap local moves. In practice, a full 2000 square foot home won’t load, drive, and unload in two hours. The hidden costs tend to show up in the fine print and on the day of:
- Minimums and travel time. Many companies charge a two- or three-hour minimum plus a travel fee. Even if the work takes 90 minutes, you’ll pay the minimum. Stair and long-carry fees. If the truck can’t park close, or if you have stairs or a long hallway, some movers add a per-flight or per-50-feet surcharge. Materials markups. Tape, boxes, mattress bags, and shrink wrap can be billed at premium rates if you don’t supply your own. Disassembly and reassembly. Beds, dining tables, and exercise equipment can trigger fees or push the clock if not done ahead of time. Waiting time. Elevators scheduled by HOAs or lockbox delays can rack up billable idle time.
I’ve watched bargain shoppers save 100 dollars on hourly rates only to spend 300 more on fees and time overruns. For a 2000 square foot move, treat any two-hour promise as marketing, not a plan.
San Diego-specific variables that affect price
Local geography matters. Canyon lots in Tierrasanta or Kensington may force long carries if the driveway won’t take a large truck. La Jolla and Point Loma bring narrow streets and no-parking zones that require permits or smaller shuttle trucks. Downtown high-rises add elevator reservations, dock time windows, and security check-ins. Base housing requires clearance. Coastal humidity and salt can affect piano tuning and electronics if items sit in open air. These aren’t deal breakers, but they change timing and, therefore, cost.
HOA rules deserve their own callout. Some associations restrict move hours to 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and some require a certificate of insurance naming the HOA as additionally insured. If you discover that requirement the morning of the move, you might be stuck, paying for a crew that can’t unload. Confirm the COI early, request the elevator pad install, and book a time window that leaves breathing room.
Packing: where money leaks or gets saved
Packing drives performance on moving day. If boxes are sturdy, sealed, labeled by room, and tightly packed, crews can build stable stacks, roll dollies efficiently, and unload into the right rooms without backtracking. If boxes are open, inconsistent, or flimsy, crews need more trips and more padding to prevent crushed contents.
If you’re paying for professional packing, a two- or three-person team can pack a 2000 square foot home in roughly a full day, sometimes a day and a half if there is extensive kitchenware or decor. Materials usually include 60 to 100 medium boxes, 15 to 30 large boxes, dish packs, wardrobe boxes, tape, and paper. Good packers will bundle cords, pad dishware with paper, and label with both room and contents so you don’t have to open five boxes to find the coffee filters.
If you’re packing yourself, invest in uniform box sizes. Mediums carry most of the load safely, and they stack well in the truck. Large boxes are for light items like bedding; dense items in large boxes cause crushed boxes and strained backs. For one 2000 square foot home I moved in Poway, the owners used uniformly sized banker’s boxes. Loading was a dream, but several boxes failed at the handles when stacked tall. A cheap upgrade to moving-grade cartons would have saved time and a few re-boxes.
What to not let movers pack?
There’s a practical list I recommend clients handle themselves, both for safety and peace of mind.
- Irreplaceables and vital documents. Passports, birth certificates, deeds, jewelry you actually wear, heirlooms, hard drives with family photos, and prescription medications should travel with you. Movers can carry them, but valuation coverage won’t replace sentimental value and some items are excluded or capped. Hazardous materials. Propane tanks, gasoline, aerosols, paint, varnish, bleach, pool chemicals, and certain batteries are restricted. Even for local moves, companies may refuse them to avoid liability. Transport these yourself or dispose of them properly.
Some movers will pack open liquids or pantry items, but a tipped box can create a mess. I suggest boxing sealed, nonperishable foods in small boxes and moving them yourself in a climate-controlled car, especially during hot days on the 15 or 805.
Access and layout: your silent cost drivers
Distance to the truck and vertical travel moving companies near me time are the two biggest silent cost drivers. A long, sloped driveway where the truck must park curbside adds walking time every trip. An older home with tight turns means more creative tilting and more padding to protect plaster corners. Apartments with shared elevators can eat 30 minutes while you wait through a dog-walking rush.
One Mission Valley condo I helped with had a loading dock open only between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. We loaded quickly, but a delayed elevator key turned a smooth unload into a 45-minute idle span. The client didn’t pay extra beyond the time spent, but it illustrated a truth: good scheduling is as valuable as extra hands.
If you can stage boxes near the exit, break down bed frames ahead of time, remove glass shelves from cabinets, and confirm the truck can park close, you reduce friction the crew would otherwise charge in minutes.
Insurance, valuation, and the fine print
By law, movers provide basic valuation coverage that pays 60 cents per pound per item for damage. That means a 10-pound lamp is worth six dollars in a claim. It is not full replacement value. For higher protection, purchase full value protection or declared value coverage. For a 2000 square foot home with, say, 60,000 to 120,000 dollars of household goods, the premium is modest compared to the risk, especially if you own high-value electronics or art. Pay attention to deductibles, exclusions for natural stone, particleboard furniture, and pre-existing conditions.
If you move high-value items like a grand piano or a large glass sculpture, ask about specialty crating. Crates cost money, but they turn a roll of the dice into a careful procedure.
Timing: weekdays, weekends, and the San Diego calendar
San Diego has a steady moving rhythm, with spikes at month-end, school breaks, and military PCS cycles. Weekends cost more or book out faster. Weekdays often have lower rates and better scheduling flexibility. If you can move midweek, you may save 5 to 10 percent and deal with less traffic. Mornings are calmer. Afternoon start times risk rolling into evening, when buildings may restrict access and neighbors want quiet.
Weather rarely cancels a move here, but September heat in inland neighborhoods is a real factor. Crews slow down slightly in 95-degree conditions, water breaks become essential, and you’ll want to avoid leaving electronics in the truck longer than necessary.
Is 20 dollars enough to tip movers?
Tipping is optional, but appreciated when crews work hard and take care with your things. For local moves in San Diego, typical tipping ranges run 20 to 60 dollars per mover for half-day jobs, and 40 to 100 dollars per mover for full-day efforts, depending on difficulty and your satisfaction. If the crew disassembled tricky furniture, navigated stairs in heat, or stayed late to finish, the higher end is customary.
Is 20 dollars enough to tip movers? For a short, easy job or a partial move, 20 per mover can be perfectly fine. For a full 2000 square foot home taking most of the day, consider more if your budget allows. Cash is still the simplest method. Some companies can add gratuity to the final invoice if you prefer a card.
How to compare quotes without getting burned
Ask for an on-site or virtual survey, not just a phone estimate. Show everything, including the patio, attic, storage unit, and plants. Request a written estimate that spells out:
- Crew size, hourly rate, and minimum hours Travel time or flat fees, and whether they bill port-to-port or door-to-door What’s included in protection and materials, and what costs extra Any stair, long-carry, or elevator fees Cancellation or reschedule policies
A low estimate that ignores stairs or a storage unit is not a bargain. It’s a setup for arguments on moving day. Reputable companies welcome specificity, because clarity keeps the day smooth.
Ways to trim cost without DIY misery
Start with volume. The cheapest item to move is the one you donate. Clear the garage of dead tools, half-used paint, and broken sports gear. Pack efficiently in proper boxes. Disassemble beds the night before. Remove table leaves. Coil and label cords with painter’s tape. Group loose items into boxes; avoid bags, which are awkward and tear easily.
If you’re handy, take on the low-skill, high-time tasks: books, linens, clothing, garage odds and ends. Leave fragile kitchens, artwork, and TVs to the pros if you’re nervous. One client in Scripps Ranch reduced a four-person crew’s move time by two hours by staging labeled boxes in the dining room and breaking down two beds. That saved more than 300 dollars without lifting a sofa.
Coordinate parking. If street parking is tight, post temporary no-parking signs where permitted or reserve guest spaces through the HOA. The ability to park close is the simplest way to save an hour.
The real cost of mistakes
A rushed DIY load can break a marble-top coffee table or a thin IKEA frame. A missed elevator reservation can cost two hours of waiting. Mislabeling boxes can turn a smooth unload into a scavenger hunt. The cost of a professional crew is visible on the invoice, but the cost of errors shows up as stress and repairs.
One family I worked with tried to save time by leaving drawers full. On arrival, a tall dresser popped a runner under weight and suffered a split side panel. The manufacturer’s composite wood offered no easy fix. If they had taken 10 minutes to empty those drawers, the dresser would have made it fine. Pro crews usually wrap and secure drawers, but weight still matters on stairs and tight turns.
A quick, realistic cost framework
For a 2000 square foot move within San Diego County with average contents, good access, and self-packed boxes, budget 1,300 to 2,600 dollars for moving day. Add 400 to 1,200 dollars if you want help packing part or all of the house. Include 100 to 400 dollars if you choose upgraded valuation. If you start stacking complexities, such as two flights of stairs, long carries, high-rise elevator scheduling, or many large fragile items, add a few hundred dollars to the high end.
This isn’t a luxury purchase, but it is a skilled service. You’re renting experience and muscle memory: how to angle a sofa around a landing, how to blanket-wrap a glass-front cabinet without pressure points, how to load to ride smoothly over the 5 without shifting.
Final notes before you book
- Clarify the inventory and access details with your estimator. The more they know, the more accurate the quote. Confirm HOA requirements and elevator times early. Ask for a certificate of insurance if needed. Decide what you’ll pack versus what the movers will handle. Buy proper boxes if you DIY. Ask how the company handles claims, timing windows, and last-minute changes. Keep essentials with you: keys, medications, chargers, documents, jewelry, and a basic tool kit.
If you approach the move with a clear inventory, a realistic schedule, and an honest budget, you’ll find that San Diego’s moving market is competitive and capable. A good crew shows up on time, pads doorways without being asked, communicates ETA changes, and leaves your bed assembled and your sofa where you want it. That kind of day might not be cheap, but it’s worth every minute you didn’t spend wrangling a truck in a crowded cul-de-sac.
Flexdolly offers professional moving services in San Diego, conveniently located at 4508 Moraga Ave Unit 6, San Diego, CA 92117. You can learn more about their services by visiting www.flexdolly.com or calling +1 (858) 365-8511 for a quote or booking. Whether you're planning a local move or need assistance with heavy lifting, Flexdolly is ready to help.