Berkeley Movers, Campus Apartments to Hill Homes
Berkeley movers for Southside apartments, Elmwood homes, West Berkeley lofts and hill houses, planned around the city permit. Call 1-877-417-6060.
1-877-417-6060How Berkeley is laid out for a mover
Berkeley runs uphill from the bay. West Berkeley sits low by I-80 and Fourth Street, with old industrial buildings turned into lofts and live/work spaces. The middle of town is the flats, a grid of bungalows, shingle houses and apartment buildings around Downtown, Shattuck Avenue and San Pablo Avenue. The UC campus anchors the east side of the flats, with dense Southside apartments below it and Northside above. Past campus, the Berkeley Hills climb fast, with narrow winding roads like the one up to Panoramic Hill. Each band has its own access problem, and we ask which one you are in first.
The Berkeley temporary parking permit
Berkeley lets moving vehicles reserve the curb through a Temporary No Parking permit from the city's Permit Service Center. A few points matter on move day:
- Signs have to go up 72 hours before the restriction starts.
- The printed permit and its attachments must be on site, so the city can enforce a tow.
- Permits for moving vehicles are limited to two weeks.
Send us the dates and hours on your permit and we schedule the crew inside them.
Neighborhood by neighborhood
- Southside and Downtown: apartment moves with managers, set move hours, and newer buildings that ask for a COI, which we provide at no charge.
- Elmwood: a mix of small apartment buildings and large older homes near College Avenue.
- West Berkeley: lofts and converted spaces with freight doors, plus small cottages on the side streets.
- Westbrae, Thousand Oaks and Northbrae: family homes on gently sloped streets near Solano Avenue.
- The hills: stairs, steep drives and tight roads, which we look at before move day.
Three areas have their own pages: North Berkeley, Elmwood and Claremont.
Timing a Berkeley move
The campus calendar shapes the whole city. The weeks around the start and end of the academic year bring a wave of student moves, rental trucks and full curbs near campus. If your dates are flexible, a mid-month weekday away from those weeks usually means quieter streets near campus. Morning jobs start in a 9 to 11 AM arrival window, and the crew lead phones 30 minutes before.
Berkeley rates in plain terms
Two movers at $145 an hour suit a very small move, like a light student studio. Three movers at $175 is the standard crew for one- and two-bedroom apartments and bungalows. Four at $235 is for three-bedroom houses over 1,800 square feet and anything with four or more bedrooms, which describes many hill and Elmwood homes. No weekend premium, a 3-hour minimum, and then billing in 15-minute steps. The drive from San Jose, about 42 miles, is not charged.
Hours and cost by home size in Berkeley
To put our rates in Berkeley terms, we started from the billed time on moves we completed from mid-July to mid-October 2026 and set them next to the crew rate for each size. Treat each row as typical rather than promised; the final number comes from the time on the job, billed hourly.
| Home size | Crew | Typical hours | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 3 movers, $175/hr | 3 to 4 hours | $525 to $700 |
| 1 bedroom | 3 movers, $175/hr | 3 to 5 hours | $525 to $875 |
| 2 bedrooms | 3 movers, $175/hr | 4.5 to 7.75 hours | $788 to $1,356 |
| 3 bedrooms, under about 1,800 sq ft | 3 movers, $175/hr | 7 to 12.5 hours | $1,225 to $2,188 |
| 3 bedrooms over about 1,800 sq ft, or 4+ bedrooms | 4 movers, $235/hr | 7 to 12.5 hours | $1,645 to $2,938 |
Middle 50% of billed hours on recent local moves for direct customers (July to October 2026), with the drive between homes counted as billed. Account and partner-billed jobs and moves that included our full packing are not in these numbers. Packing supplies extra; 3-hour minimum.
Campus-area apartments usually fit the shorter end of each row, while hill homes with stairs, steep drives and tight roads take longer, so we look at them before move day.
Berkeley moves in numbers
- From mid-July to late October 2026, Berkeley sent us 7 quote requests, all local, and 2 of them booked or completed.
- One-bedroom and two-bedroom homes tied as the most common sizes in those requests.
A Berkeley checklist
- Order the temporary permit early enough for the 72-hour sign posting.
- Ask your building about move hours, elevator booking and COI wording.
- Hill homes: count the steps and describe the driveway.
- Loft or live/work space: confirm the freight door hours.
- Check that your new address is within 10 minutes of the old one; if not, the drive between them is billed at double time.
- Plan payment: cash, money order, Visa or Mastercard (3% fee). No checks.
Pages around Berkeley
- North Berkeley: Northside apartments, Shattuck houses and stair-lined hills.
- Claremont: big older homes near the canyon.
- Elmwood: shingle houses and small apartment buildings around College Avenue.
- Rockridge: just over the Oakland line on College Avenue, with Oakland's permit instead.
- Temescal: North Oakland duplexes and apartments.
- Emeryville: lofts and condo towers to the southwest.
- Leaving the Bay Area? Read long-distance moving.
Questions and answers
Can a student book a small move?
Yes. A two-mover crew at $145 an hour works for a very small load, like a dorm room or a light studio, with a 3-hour minimum.
What if the truck cannot fit up my hill street?
We look at the street from your address before the day and plan where to park, staging at a wider spot nearby if needed. If the truck cannot get close, we tell you ahead of time whether a shuttle is needed.
Do you move from Berkeley to San Francisco?
Yes. Because the two addresses are more than 10 minutes apart, the drive between them is billed at double time under California rules.
Can you take my desk and bed apart?
Yes, disassembly and reassembly are included on a full-service move.
Do you offer storage?
Our Elmwood house has a piano. How do you handle it?
Ready to move?
Tell us your date and zip codes. A real person calls you back, or call us now.