Office move cost
Published ranges by office size, distance and service, with a clear note on how reliable those ranges are and which variables actually move the number.
Commercial moving is priced far less consistently than household moving, and published figures should be read as orders of magnitude rather than benchmarks. The source below states plainly that its figures are general ranges and that actual costs vary significantly. We are repeating them with that caveat attached rather than presenting them as a rate card.
Published ranges by size
| Scenario | Published range |
|---|---|
| Small office, under 1,500 sq ft | $1,500 to $5,000 |
| Medium office, up to 5,000 sq ft | $5,000 to $15,000 |
| Larger facility, warehouse or multi-floor site | $15,000 to $100,000 or more |
| Local move | $1,000 to $8,000 |
| Long-distance move | $10,000 to $30,000 or more |
| Crew labor | $50 to $125 per hour per worker |
| Professional packing | $300 to $4,000 |
| Storage | $50 to $200 per month |
| Insurance upgrade | 1 to 5 percent of declared value |
The publisher recommends holding a contingency of 5 to 15 percent of the projected budget, which is a reasonable signal about how firm these numbers are.
What actually moves the number
Square footage correlates with cost, but it is not what drives it. Three other variables usually matter more.
- Equipment density and value. A 5,000 square foot office of desks and a 5,000 square foot floor of lab benches and server racks are not the same job, and the second may cost several times the first.
- Access at both ends. Loading dock, elevator reservations, stair carries, street permits and floor level change the labor hours far more than distance does.
- The window. Out-of-hours and weekend moves exist because businesses cannot afford weekday downtime, and they are priced accordingly.
- Disconnect and reconnect scope. Whether the mover unplugs and replugs IT, or whether that is your team or a third party, is often the largest single swing in a quote.
Why quotes vary so widely on the same building
Nothing requires a commercial mover to conduct a physical survey before quoting, because the household goods survey rules do not apply here. A quote produced from a floor plan and a phone call is a guess, and it will be revised.
If you want comparable numbers, insist on a site walk before the price is fixed, and give every bidder the same inventory and the same access constraints. Two quotes built on different assumptions are not two prices for the same job.