Cost is usually the very first thing a caller wants to settle, and we get it. Here is our honest answer: the figure rides almost entirely on the two places involved and the route in between. Drop a studio off a roomy lot near Pease and you are looking at a light, quick afternoon. Carry a third-floor unit out of a tight South End lane, with the truck hunting for room among parked visitors, and the day looks nothing alike. Cole Bennett, who learned the trade on these coastal roads and ran the board for other New England outfits before launching his own flat-rate company, holds to one rule above the rest: quote a figure people can actually budget around, then honor it. What follows is our 2026 rate card for the city and the surrounding Seacoast, the method behind it, and the short list of factors that move your number.
Two Ways We Bill a Seacoast Job
Most relocations around here land in one of two billing styles. Tight, in-town work tends to come out cheapest charged by the hour. A whole household, or a job rolling toward Dover or south to the beaches, usually reads cleaner as a flat band set by bedroom count. We will tell you which structure saves you money before anything is signed.
What is folded into every quote
Either way you are billed, the price puts our own W-2 crew on the job along with the truck, the diesel, and the entire kit they wheel through the door:
- Hand trucks, four-wheel skates, and ramps chosen to fit the load and whatever building it leaves
- Padded blankets, stretch film, and rated straps around every dresser, headboard, and sheet of glass
- Breakdown and rebuild labor for beds, tables, and any piece that must shed a leg or two to round a pinched colonial doorway
- $1M cargo coverage riding along, with a full-value protection upgrade on request
Hourly crew rates for 2026
For studios, flats, and short cross-town hops, your clock opens at the knock and closes as the final box touches the floor. No travel padding, no surprise fuel charge sprung on you afterward.
| Crew Size | Best Suited For | Hourly Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2 movers + truck | Studio, one-bedroom, UNH apartment or condo | $135 / hr |
| 3 movers + truck | Two-bedroom, small house, packed load-in | $175 / hr |
| 4 movers + truck | Three to four bedrooms, stairs, heavy day | $225 / hr |
Flat bands by home size
When it is a full house, and especially something headed toward Exeter, Dover, or over the Memorial Bridge into Kittery, a flat band tied to bedroom count is much simpler to plan around. Every band assumes an average load with decent access; throw in stairs, a long carry, or a distant town and you drift toward the upper edge of the row.
| Home Size | Typical Crew | Flat Band |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | 2 movers | $420 – $680 |
| 1 bedroom | 2 movers | $680 – $1,140 |
| 2 bedrooms | 2–3 movers | $1,140 – $1,950 |
| 3 bedrooms | 3 movers | $1,950 – $3,250 |
| 4 bedrooms | 4 movers | $3,180 – $5,000 |
These are not lowball teasers meant to reel you in. Across most of what we haul through downtown, the West End, Atlantic Heights, and out among the Seacoast towns, the signed quote settles right inside its listed band, and you are holding that figure well ahead of the truck pulling up.
The Levers That Move Your Number
Two near-twin two-bedrooms a block apart can end up a couple hundred dollars apart, and that spread almost always traces back to the structures and the curbs rather than the boxes inside them:
- Home size and volume. Additional rooms mean additional wrapping, lifting, and stacking, which is the reason the bands step up by bedroom. A jam-packed studio sitting on a basement full of spillover can bill closer to a one-bedroom.
- Stairs and historic access. A third-story walk-up off Islington Street with no lift runs slower and harder than a ground floor, drawing in more crew and more clock. The pinched, steep staircases tucked inside a South End colonial or an Exeter clapboard do exactly the same.
- Getting the truck close. A missing driveway, a snug one-way lane a 26-footer can barely squeeze down, curbside parking choked with beach traffic, or a Portwalk condo with a booked elevator and a certificate-of-insurance requirement, every one of these stretches the day longer.
- Season. Late spring into early fall is the busy stretch on the Seacoast, with UNH turnover up in Durham and beach-rental churn through Hampton and Rye crowding the schedule. A midweek slot in the quiet months generally prices gentler than a June Saturday.
- Distance. Crossing town sits at one end; a haul up the Spaulding Turnpike to Rochester, out NH-101 toward Manchester, or down I-95 past the tolls sits at the other. Anything departing the region permanently is written as a fixed figure, agreed and signed ahead of loading.
Storage, Packing, and the Extras
A handful of jobs ask for extra hands or gear beyond the basic crew and truck, and each of those rides on its own clearly listed line so nothing disappears inside the total:
- Climate-controlled storage runs roughly $110 to $280 monthly depending on unit size, kept at an even temperature so the damp coastal summer and the dry furnace season never reach it, rather than letting it cook in some roadside shed.
- Packing is offered full or partial: we deliver cartons, paper, and wardrobe boxes and tag the lot, or we simply box up the kitchen and the artwork and you handle the rest.
- A piano ranks among several heavy specialty pieces we take on directly, never farmed out: figure around $330 to $500 for an upright and $580 to $880 for a baby grand.
One quiet Seacoast perk while we are on supplies: there is no sales tax in New Hampshire, so whatever you buy in cartons and materials, the marked price is what you actually pay.
Pricing a Move Out of the Region
The local bands drop off the moment a job exits the Seacoast for keeps. A three-bedroom rolling from Dover to Portland, or a condo aimed at Boston, is instead quoted as a single fixed written sum before any carton rides the truck. The crew that wraps your belongings here rides with them straight through to the destination room. We do not post your job for an outside bidder, and no one off our own payroll ever touches your things. The full nuts and bolts of an interstate relocation sit on our long-distance moving page.
I worked the dispatch board on this coast long enough to spot every trick that quietly inflates a moving invoice, and I built my company to do the opposite. The price lands in writing before anything walks out the front door, and we have already walked the stairs, the curb, and the access first. Somebody trusting us with all they own deserves to hear the number while sitting at home, long before the truck shows up. Booking a steady flat-rate crew is the smart move. — Cole Bennett, owner
Every job carries $1M cargo coverage. Smart Move is a licensed and insured mover with US DOT and MC authority for interstate work, operating across New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts, running its own crews and its own trucks, nothing handed off. A house move is detailed on the local moving page, flats and condos on the apartment moving page, and the towns and suburbs we reach on the service areas page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much to relocate a one-bedroom around Portsmouth, NH?
Most one-bedrooms settle into the $680 to $1,140 band, or run hourly at $135 with a two-mover truck. A no-elevator climb, a steep historic staircase, and a cramped on-street spot all nudge it higher, and we pin the precise figure once we have seen both ends and the access at each.
What is the price for a whole-house move on the Seacoast?
Budget roughly $1,140 to $1,950 for a two-bedroom, $1,950 to $3,250 for a three-bedroom, and $3,180 to $5,000 for a four-bedroom within the area. Packing, storage, and a far-town haul each ride a separate line so you can trace the total cleanly.
Does a summer date cost more than a winter one?
Frequently it does. Late spring through early autumn is our peak window, with Durham’s UNH turnover and the beach-rental shuffle in Hampton and Rye packing the schedule, so Saturdays fill early and quotes firm up. A quiet-season weekday usually comes in friendlier, and the care is identical either way.
Will New Hampshire sales tax add to my bill?
No. The state charges no sales tax, so any cartons or supplies you pick up from us cost precisely what the label says, with nothing tacked on at the register.
Can you quote my move without seeing it?
In most cases, yes. Give us the home size, both addresses, the floor at each end with any stairs, and a handful of photos or a quick video tour, and your estimate comes back with every extra spelled out. Whatever we put on paper is what you pay.
Get a Written Portsmouth Moving Figure
Send us the home size, the two addresses, the floor at each with its stairs, and a target date. We send back a tidy written figure with every line broken out, the access already sorted, and no pressure to commit on the spot.