Lower Nob Hill Movers for Pre-War Apartment Buildings

Lower Nob Hill is the grid of apartment buildings that slopes down from the top of Nob Hill toward Union Square and the Tenderloin, roughly between Bush and Geary and from Powell over toward Larkin. Almost everything here is housing: rows of brick and stucco buildings from the 1910s and 1920s, many with fire escapes on the front, a small lobby, and a few dozen units each. Small hotels, corner markets, theaters near the bottom of the slope and the cable cars on Powell give it a busy, central feel within walking distance of downtown.

Most homes here are studios and one-bedrooms, many on upper floors. Elevators in these buildings tend to be original or close to it, narrow and slow, and some buildings have none. Courtyard buildings add a walk from the street door through a garden or passage before you reach the stairs. A queen headboard or a long dresser may have to stand on end in the cab, and a sofa that will not fit goes up the stairwell. None of that is surcharged; the time is simply part of the job, including any minutes spent waiting for a shared elevator.

Bush, Pine, Sutter and Post move traffic in one direction, buses run on several of them, and curbs fill early with hotel and delivery vehicles. A 26-foot truck plus its ramp needs about 40 feet of legal curb. When a block has no realistic spot, a temporary permit can be processed for the move day, which our parking permit page walks through. Double-parking tickets are passed on to the bill, so we would rather plan the space. David checks the block before move day and tells you if a shuttle is needed.

Studios and one-bedrooms on this slope are usually three movers at $175 an hour; two movers at $145 is for genuinely small loads. If you are leaving a three-bedroom over 1,800 square feet, or four bedrooms or more, plan on four movers at $235. The minimum is 3 hours, which for a three-person crew comes to $525, and after that we bill in 15-minute steps. Blankets, tape and floor protection come with full-service moves; boxes and other packing supplies are charged only if used.

Hours and cost by home size in Lower Nob Hill

We grouped the billed hours from local jobs we closed between July and October 2026 by home size, then applied the standard crew rate for each size. Your home may land outside these numbers. We bill only the hours the move takes, with a 3-hour minimum.

Based on billed hours from local moves for direct customers that we closed July to October 2026 (middle 50%), drive between addresses included; account or partner-billed jobs and full-packing jobs excluded. Add packing materials used. The 3-hour minimum applies to every move.

In these buildings, a reserved elevator slot and a hallway cleared before we arrive do more to keep you at the low end of a row than anything else.

ZIP 94109, which Lower Nob Hill shares with Polk Gulch, Russian Hill and part of Nob Hill, had only 2 public quote requests from mid-July through late October 2026, too few to describe. Across San Francisco there were 43 such requests, 28 of them booked or completed, and 40 of the 43 were local moves within the Bay Area.

1. Ask the manager about move hours, elevator reservations and padding rules.
2. Send us the management company name, mailing address and email for a free certificate of insurance.
3. Clear the hallway outside your door and the path to the lobby.
4. Pack books in small boxes; long walks down corridors favor lighter cartons.
5. Have cash, money order, Visa or Mastercard ready; we do not take checks.

The crew comes up from San Jose, about 42 miles away, and there is no charge for driving to you. San Francisco mornings start with a 9 to 11 AM arrival window, and the foreman phones roughly half an hour ahead. When pickup and drop-off are more than 10 minutes apart, state rules double the drive time between them.

• Nob Hill: the hilltop above, with co-ops and grand hotels.
• Polk Gulch: the Polk Street corridor to the west.
• Chinatown: walk-ups and alleys to the east.
• SoMa: newer towers and lofts across Market.
• San Francisco movers: citywide information.

See also packing and storage.