Chinatown Movers for Walk-Ups Above the Shops
Chinatown movers for walk-up apartments above shops on Grant and Stockton and homes on narrow alleys. 3 movers $175/hr, 3-hr minimum. 1-877-417-6060.
1-877-417-6060The oldest Chinatown in North America
San Francisco's Chinatown fills the blocks between the Financial District and Nob Hill, entered through the Dragon Gate at Grant Avenue and Bush Street. Grant is the souvenir and restaurant street; Stockton, one block up, is where residents shop for produce, fish and roast meats. Portsmouth Square is the neighborhood's living room, and alleys such as Waverly Place and Ross Alley run between the main streets. The Central Subway now has a Chinatown station under Stockton, so the area connects quickly to Union Square and SoMa.
Homes stacked over storefronts
Chinatown is a densely built, closely packed neighborhood. Most homes are apartments in three- to six-story brick or masonry buildings with shops on the ground floor, and many have narrow interior stairs and no elevator. Units tend to be compact, so a typical load is a studio or one-bedroom, often with a full kitchen and plenty of stored items. Hallways can be shared and narrow, and the entry door may sit between two storefronts. Planning the order of the carry matters more here than the size of the furniture.
Busy sidewalks and delivery traffic
From early morning, Stockton and the side streets fill with delivery trucks unloading for markets and restaurants, and the sidewalks get crowded with shoppers. Grant is narrow with one lane of traffic. A 26-foot truck with its ramp needs about 40 feet of legal curb, which is rare here at midday. When there is nowhere legal to stop, a temporary permit can be processed for the move; see our SF parking permit guide. Double-parking citations are added to the bill, so we plan the space rather than risk it. If access looks tight, David checks the street before move day and tells you whether a shuttle is needed.
Requests from ZIPs 94108 and 94133
Chinatown spans two ZIP codes that it shares with Nob Hill, North Beach and Telegraph Hill. Between mid-July and late October 2026 those two ZIPs gave us 4 public quote requests, not counting account work: three local moves and one long-distance. Two were one-bedroom homes, one a two-bedroom and one a studio.
Hourly pricing for a compact apartment
A studio or one-bedroom walk-up is usually a three-mover job at $175 an hour. If the load is truly small, two movers at $145 can do it, and a larger family flat of three bedrooms over 1,800 square feet takes four movers at $235. The minimum is 3 hours, then time is counted in 15-minute steps. The rate is the same on weekends, and we do not charge extra for stairs, only the time they take.
Typical cost to move in Chinatown
For a realistic sense of the total, we pulled the hours from our own closed-out local moves rather than an online calculator, then applied the standard crew rate for each size. Your own invoice reflects the actual time on your job.
| Home size | Crew | Typical hours | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 3 movers, $175/hr | 3.5 to 4 hours | $613 to $700 |
| 1 bedroom | 3 movers, $175/hr | 3 to 4.5 hours | $525 to $788 |
| 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 |
From our closed local jobs for direct customers, July to October 2026: the middle half of billed hours by home size, including the drive between your two addresses and excluding account, partner-billed and full-packing jobs. Supplies are charged as used, with a 3-hour minimum.
Compact units with narrow interior stairs and no elevator make most Chinatown moves studios or one-bedrooms, and a clear hallway at both ends keeps the hours toward the low end of those rows.
How to prepare a Chinatown move
- Pack the kitchen early; it is usually the heaviest and slowest room.
- Tell us the floor number and whether the building has an elevator.
- Ask the shop below whether its deliveries arrive at a set time, and book around it.
- Label boxes by room so the crew can unload fast at the new place.
- Keep valuables, documents and medicine with you, not in the truck.
- Let neighbors on a shared stair know the date.
Distance, arrival and drive time
We come from San Jose, about 42 miles to the southeast, and you do not pay for that drive. Arrival for San Francisco morning jobs is between 9 and 11 AM, and the foreman calls about 30 minutes ahead. When the two addresses are more than 10 minutes apart, California rules double the drive time between them.
Next to Chinatown
- Financial District: condo towers and lofts to the east.
- Nob Hill: uphill to the west, co-ops and doorman buildings.
- North Beach: flats and cafes across Broadway.
- Telegraph Hill: homes on stairways to the northeast.
- San Francisco movers: the city page.
Need help boxing up? See packing and storage.
Questions and answers
My building has no elevator. Will that slow the move?
It adds carrying time, which is billed by the hour, but there is no separate stair fee. Lighter, smaller boxes speed up stair work.
Can you start early, before the street gets busy?
Our San Francisco morning window is 9 to 11 AM. Tell us about your block, and we plan the parking around the delivery traffic.
Do you supply boxes?
Yes. Packing materials are charged only for what you use, and wardrobe boxes come on the truck for the day.
Can I pay in cash?
Yes. We accept cash, money order, Visa and Mastercard; card payments have a 3% fee and we do not take checks.
Do my tips go to the crew?
Yes. Tips go directly to the movers who did the work.
Ready to move?
Tell us your date and zip codes. A real person calls you back, or call us now.