323-379-1382 Free estimate

San Francisco, CA

Long distance movers in San Francisco

The distance is the easy part here. We pull the SFMTA no-parking permit at least five working days out, and we tell you at survey whether your street needs a shuttle instead of a trailer.

  • Permit pulled SFMTA, five days out
  • Shuttle priced before the day, not on it
  • COI issued direct to building management
  • USDOT 2138595 · MC-744411 checkable on FMCSA SAFER
Two cable cars passing on a steep San Francisco street lined with buildings

Licensed interstate carrier

Our authority is public record — and so are our reviews. FMCSA register

CAL-T · CPUC
California licenses movers
Yelp reviews Google reviews

San Francisco, CA

What a long distance move from San Francisco involves

San Francisco needs an SFMTA temporary no-parking permit.

We file it, plan the last fifty feet, and quote one binding price before you pack. It sits inside the price you were quoted rather than arriving afterwards.

The rest is the ordinary work: a survey that counts what you own, a binding price in writing, our own crew loading and delivering, and thirty days of storage if your dates slip.

Moving services in San Francisco

Why people book us for a move from San Francisco

1,789
Households moved
160
Crew
28
Cities
  • Two movers among cartons, one reading from a tablet Your quote is your final price, in writing after the survey
  • A mover carrying a large carton against his chest, close in Trained crews on our own payroll, never day labor
  • A mover carrying a carton through a kitchen as a resident stands aside Licensed and insured under our own USDOT and MC authority
  • A man at the door of a green storage unit, working the latch Thirty days of storage included on long distance moves
  • A hand marking a date on a wall calendar with a pen We file and pay the San Francisco street permit as part of the booking

What it costs

What moving from San Francisco typically costs

Price comes from weight and mileage first, then access — and in San Francisco access is the part that moves the number.

Home size Typical weight To New York To Seattle
Studio or 1 bed one bedroom of contents 2,000 – 3,500 lb $1,600 – $7,061 $1,396 – $4,858
2 – 3 bedrooms the most common interstate move 4,000 – 9,000 lb $4,497 – $8,933 $2,506 – $6,369
4+ bedrooms often needs a trailer to itself 10,000 – 14,000 lb $8,461 – $15,154 $4,715 – $8,951

The dollar ranges are the MARKET rate for these lanes, not our quote: San Francisco to New York and San Francisco to Seattle. moveBuddha's monthly dataset of live quotes across vetted movers, last updated 31 August 2026. Weights are the industry rule of thumb. We price your move from a survey of your actual inventory and give you one binding number in writing, which is why no figure above is presented as ours.

Get a binding price

Included and extra

What your final price includes

The complaint in this industry is always the bill that grew. This is the line between included and extra, before you have to ask.

  • Included One truck, one crew The crew that loads you is the crew that unloads you.
  • Included Storage for 30 days Useful when a closing slips.
  • Included Basic cover 60 cents for every pound an item weighs.
  • Extra Full cover Pays to repair or replace what we list together.
  • Extra Packing and crates Up to 15 boxes is partial, more than that is full.
  • Extra Car shipping Open or enclosed.
  • Extra The street permit Its own line on your estimate, not hidden in a total.

How the price is built

How your move from San Francisco works, step by step

Five points, and the first three all happen before a truck is booked.

  1. Survey, and the street

    We count the inventory and look at the address: the grade, the width, whether a trailer can turn in, and how many stairs with turns in them are between the door and the curb.

  2. SFMTA permit and signs

    We apply to SFMTA at least five business days out — longer in summer — and post the signs. A move between two city addresses needs a permit at each end.

  3. A written estimate

    Weight, mileage, the permit and the shuttle if one is needed, in writing before anything is booked. The shuttle is the line people are surprised by, so it goes in early.

  4. Load day

    The trailer sits where it can legally sit and the shuttle works your door. On a walk-up the crew is sized for the stairs rather than for the square footage.

  5. Transit and delivery

    Eastbound crosses Donner Pass. In winter that means chain controls, a 30 mph limit through the restriction and occasionally a closed pass, which is why the delivery is a window and not an hour.

Long distance moving routes from San Francisco

Road distance and the transit window we plan against on the lanes we run most from the city.

All routes
Permit
$355 SFMTA, 1–4 signs, up to 3 days
Permit notice
5 business days minimum, more May to September
Homes pre-1940
44% walk-ups and narrow stairs
To the east coast
7–12 days San Francisco to New York, 2,902 mi

Sources: SFMTA published temporary signage fee table, effective 1 July 2026 — metered locations add $21 per meter per day; US Census via Axios San Francisco. Fees re-checked 28 August 2026.

San Francisco's SFMTA no-parking permit, and the last fifty feet

A San Francisco move is not decided by the two thousand nine hundred miles. It is decided by the last fifty feet.

Start with the curb. The city requires an SFMTA temporary no-parking permit to hold space for a truck, and it is not a formality. The published fee is $355 for one to four signs on a permit of up to three days, four to seven days adds $64, and a metered block adds $21 per meter per day on top. That last one is worth reading twice, because the zone is billed in five-day increments on metered spaces — so a one-day move against two meters is charged as ten meter-days, not two. The application needs a minimum of five business days between filing and enforcement, longer between May and September when everybody moves, and a move from one San Francisco address to another needs two permits. We pull them as part of the booking, which is the difference between a reserved curb and a crew circling Nob Hill with a loaded trailer.

Then there is the posting rule, which is the part that catches people who have organized a move somewhere else. The signs have to go up at least 72 hours before enforcement starts at an unmetered location, and 24 hours at a metered one. Three days, not the morning of. It is the same split Washington DC uses, which is convenient if you have moved between the two, and completely counterintuitive if you have not: the expensive curb needs more notice, not less.

Then the hill. Bradford Street runs at 41%, Romolo at 37.5%, and Filbert and 22nd — the two everybody photographs — at 31.5%; 22nd drops seventy-nine feet in a single 250-foot block. A 53-foot trailer does not work a street like that and frequently cannot turn into it. The answer is a shuttle: a 26-foot truck works your door and transfers to the trailer parked somewhere it can legally sit. That is a real line on the estimate and we price it at survey rather than discovering it on the morning.

Then the building. Forty-four per cent of San Francisco homes were built before 1940 and the median one went up in 1948 — the third oldest housing stock of the hundred largest counties in the country. That means staircases with turns in them, doorways narrower than a modern sofa, and no service lift. Hoisting, taking a door off its hinges and partial disassembly are ordinary here, not exceptional.

One thing that is genuinely about the distance: every eastbound lane out of San Francisco crosses Donner Pass on I-80. In winter that means chain controls, a 30 mph limit, trucks held at Applegate while the pass is restricted, and several full closures a season. It is why an eastbound delivery in January is a window rather than a date.

What decides a San Francisco move

Three things happen in the last fifty feet

The curb, the hill and the staircase. Each one is priced at survey here, because each one is a cost rather than an inconvenience.

San Francisco's hillside blocks seen from the bay with the downtown towers behind

$355 SFMTA permit, 1–4 signs, up to 3 days

What the SFMTA curb permit costs

The published SFMTA fee is $355 for one to four signs, plus $21 per meter per day on a metered block — billed in five-day increments, so a one-day move against two meters is charged as ten meter-days. Five business days minimum between filing and enforcement, longer through the summer, and signs posted 72 hours ahead at an unmetered curb or 24 at a metered one. A move within the city needs two permits. We pull them with the booking.

The Golden Gate Bridge seen from the beach with the Marin headlands beyond

41% grade on Bradford Street

Working a hill a trailer cannot climb

Filbert and 22nd run at 31.5% and 22nd drops seventy-nine feet in one block. A 53-foot trailer cannot work those streets, so a 26-foot shuttle takes the address and transfers to the trailer. Priced at survey, not improvised on the day.

The Bay Bridge lit at dusk with the San Francisco skyline behind it

44% of homes built before 1940

Turning staircases in pre-war homes

The median San Francisco home went up in 1948, the third oldest stock of the hundred largest US counties. Turning staircases, doorways narrower than a modern sofa, and no service lift. Hoisting and door removal are routine rather than exceptional.

Sources: SFMTA published temporary signage fee table, effective 1 July 2026, re-checked 28 August 2026; city grade survey (datapointed / 7×7); US Census via Axios San Francisco.

Protection

Moving insurance: what your belongings are covered for

Every interstate move carries released-value liability by law, and it is lower than almost everyone expects: sixty cents per pound of the item, not what the item is worth. On a staircase move that distinction matters more than usual — the things most likely to catch a banister are rarely the heaviest.

A close view of cardboard cell dividers
60¢ / lb
released value — free, but you have to choose it
Full value
the federal default if you choose nothing
$100k / $500k
auto transport, open or enclosed

Crating and door removal are ordinary on pre-war stock, not extras.

What each level actually pays

Want the permit and the shuttle priced before you book?

Two ZIP codes and a move size is enough to start.

323-379-1382 Get a price

Where we load in San Francisco

Three kinds of address, three kinds of load.

The Painted Ladies row houses at Alamo Square with the downtown skyline behind
A row of brightly painted Victorian houses on a San Francisco street
A Golden Gate Bridge tower rising above low fog with the city beyond
Downtown San Francisco seen from a hillside with the Bay Bridge in the distance
A pier promenade lined with lamp posts leading toward the Transamerica Pyramid

  • Downtown and Mission Bay

    Financial District · SoMa · Mission Bay

    A booked dock, a service lift and a certificate to management. Settled at survey rather than on the morning of the move.

  • Hills and pre-war stairs

    Nob Hill · Russian Hill · Telegraph Hill · Noe Valley

    Grades a trailer cannot work and staircases narrower than a modern sofa. A 26-foot shuttle takes the address and transfers.

  • Peninsula and East Bay

    Daly City · South San Francisco · Oakland · Berkeley

    Outside SFMTA, so the $355 permit and the five-business-day filing do not apply. Different city, different curb rule.

Two cable cars passing on a steep San Francisco street lined with buildings

Reviews from customers on our long-distance lanes

“My husband and I recently made a cross country move from SF Bay area to Maryland. We used Cross Country movers and had an excellent experience.”

Read every review

Where to go next

Common questions about moving from San Francisco

323-379-1382 All moving questions
Do I need a parking permit, and who pulls it?

Yes, and we do. San Francisco requires an SFMTA temporary no-parking permit to hold curb space for the truck. The published fee is $355 for one to four signs on a permit of up to three days, and a metered block adds $21 per meter per day, billed in five-day increments. SFMTA needs a minimum of five business days between filing and enforcement — longer between May and September — and the signs go up 72 hours ahead at an unmetered curb, 24 at a metered one. If you are moving from one city address to another you need one at each end.

Can a full-size trailer reach my address?

Often not. Bradford Street runs at 41%, Filbert and 22nd at 31.5%, and many streets that are not famously steep are still too narrow or too tight to turn a 53-foot trailer into. We look at the actual address at survey rather than assuming.

What is a shuttle and what does it cost?

A 26-foot truck works your door and transfers the load to the trailer parked where it can legally sit. It is a separate line on the estimate because it is extra labor and a second vehicle, and we price it at survey — it is the item people are most often surprised by when another company leaves it until the day.

My flat is a walk-up with a turn in the stairs.

That is the normal San Francisco job: 44% of the city’s homes were built before 1940 and the median one in 1948. We size the crew for the stairs rather than the square footage, and hoisting or taking a door off its hinges is ordinary work here rather than an exception.

You are an interstate carrier — what about a move inside California?

Different regulator. Interstate moves are federal: USDOT 2138595 and MC-744411, both checkable on the FMCSA register. A move that starts and ends inside California falls under the CPUC instead, which requires a household goods carrier permit — a CAL-T number — from every mover with no exemption for small operators. Ask any company for its CAL-T and verify it with the CPUC before booking an in-state move.

How does winter affect an eastbound delivery?

Every eastbound lane out of San Francisco crosses Donner Pass on I-80. In winter that means chain controls, a 30 mph limit through the restriction, trucks held at Applegate while the pass is closed to them, and several full closures a season. We build that into the delivery spread rather than promising a date we would then miss.

What is my furniture actually insured for?

By default sixty cents per pound of the item — the federal released-value standard, included at no cost. That is weight, not worth. Full-value protection is the paid alternative on an inventory we declare together, and on a staircase move it is worth more than usual, because the things most likely to catch a banister are rarely the heaviest.

Can you store my things between leases?

Thirty days of storage in transit is included, in a facility we control. It is the normal answer when a San Francisco lease ends before the next one starts, and it does not have to be decided at booking.

Moving out of San Francisco?

The permit pulled, the shuttle priced, and a binding number before you book.

323-379-1382 Get a price

Get a price for your move from San Francisco

Two ZIP codes and a date is enough to start. A coordinator confirms the permit and whether the street needs a shuttle before anything is booked.