What should a piano move cost?
The national average for a piano move in the United States is $294, with most jobs falling between $194–$448. That figure comes from Thumbtack transaction data — real jobs that were booked and paid, not quotes. Most cost calculators you will find online run two to four times higher than that, because most of them are published by people selling the move.
Cost calculator
Four inputs. No email, no phone number, no lead form.
Estimated range for this job
$150–$550
Upright, up to 10 miles, flat access, no crane.
How we calculate this
There is no formula behind the number. We add published bands together and show you the result, because the underlying data is banded and pretending otherwise would be a false precision.
- Start with the base band for your piano type. Moves of 10, 20 and 50 miles use the local band. Moves of 100 and 200 miles use the long-distance band. Those are the only two tiers our source publishes, so those are the only two tiers we apply. We do not multiply by a per-mile rate.
- Add the stair band once for each flight, using the per-flight range for that piano shape.
- Add the crane band ($500–$1,700) if a crane or hoist is needed.
- Show the result as a range, low end plus low end, high end plus high end. The low end describes an easy job with an efficient local crew. The high end describes a hard one.
Two honest gaps. Our source publishes a band for a baby grand and a band for a concert grand but none for a mid-size grand, so the grand option shows the span of the two published bands rather than a number nobody published. And for long distance it separates uprights from grands only, so every grand shape shares one long-distance band.
Source for every figure on this page: Thumbtack transaction-derived pricing and the add-on ranges recorded in our own research file,docs/research/piano-movers-deep-dive.md section 1. We are not a moving company and we are not paid by the movers we list.
The full price table
| Piano type | Local move (10–50 mi) | Long distance (100–200 mi) | Per flight of stairs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upright (any height) | $150–$550 | $600–$2,500 | $40–$100 |
| Baby grand (under 5 ft 7 in) | $250–$800 | $1,000–$4,500 | $75–$200 |
| Grand (5 ft 7 in to under 7 ft) | $250–$1,200 | $1,000–$4,500 | $75–$200 |
| Concert grand (7 ft and over) | $500–$1,200 | $1,000–$4,500 | $75–$200 |
| Extra | Typical cost | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Crane or hoist | $500–$1,700 | No stair or lift route wide enough. The piano leaves through a window or balcony. |
| Custom crating | $700–$1,200 | Long-distance or shipped moves, and most insured grand moves. |
| Storage | about $100 per month | Gaps between move-out and move-in. Ask whether the unit is climate controlled — a piano in an uncontrolled unit will move out of tune and can crack. |
| Tuning after the move | $100–$300 | Nearly always needed. Most technicians want the piano to settle for two to four weeks first. |
Reading a quote without getting caught
The single most common complaint about piano moves is a quote that grows on the day, and stairs are almost always the reason. A quoted job that turns into a much larger bill at the door usually started with a mover who never asked about access. Ask for the stair count and the crane decision to be written into the quote, in writing, before you book. A mover who will not put access in writing has not priced your job — they have priced a job.
Ask what the price includes: the move only, or the move plus crating, stairs, tolls and the first tuning. Ask what liability comes as standard, because the standard is $0.60 per pound and that is not insurance. And check the company's federal record before you pay a deposit — that takes about a minute on our verification page.