Here’s how we price office moves at Expo Movers, what pushes the number up or down, and where companies most often overspend.

The short answer

Most office moves in New York City are quoted as a flat rate after a walkthrough of your space. For a local move within the five boroughs, with standard packing and normal freight elevator access, starting prices look like this:

Office size	Workstations	Starting price
Small office	Up to 15	From $700
Mid-size office	15–50	From $3,500
Large office	50–150	From $10,000
Multi-floor / HQ	150+	Custom quote

Your final price depends on the factors below, and your flat-rate quote after a walkthrough is the number you pay.

What changes the cost of an office move

1. How much you’re moving

Workstation count and square footage set the size of the crew and the number of trucks, and those two things drive most of the price.

Office size	Workstations	Crew	Trucks	Typical move window
Small office	Up to 15	3–4 movers	1	One day
Mid-size office	15–50	5–8 movers	2	One day (weekday or weekend)
Large office	50–150	8–15 movers	3–5	One full weekend
Multi-floor / HQ	150+	Custom	Custom	Phased over several weekends

2. When you move

After-hours and weekend moves cost more in labor, but they keep your team working through the week. In many Manhattan buildings it isn’t your choice: management only allows moves outside business hours, so ask before you plan around a weekday.

3. Your building’s rules

NYC commercial buildings come with requirements that add time and coordination: freight elevator reservations, loading dock windows, floor and wall protection, union labor in some buildings, and a Certificate of Insurance (COI) naming the building’s management company. Each one is manageable if it’s planned. Each one gets expensive if it’s discovered on move day.

4. IT and specialty equipment

Server racks, networking gear, phone booths and privacy pods, artwork, and lab or medical equipment need extra packing, handling, and sometimes climate-controlled transport. The more of it you have, the more crew time it takes.

5. Packing and setup

Full packing and unpacking costs more than having your staff pack their own desks. Disassembling and reassembling workstations, cubicles, and conference tables is also labor, and so is placing everything to your new floor plan.

6. Storage

If your new space isn’t ready when your lease ends, you’ll need somewhere to put everything for a week or a few months. Commercial storage adds to the cost, but it’s usually cheaper than paying for two leases.

7. Distance

Moves within the five boroughs and the tri-state area are priced as local moves. Long-distance office relocations from NYC are quoted separately based on volume and distance.

Flat rate vs. hourly billing

With hourly billing, everything outside your control ends up on your invoice: a freight elevator shared with another tenant, a delivery truck blocking the dock, midday traffic across town. A flat rate moves that risk to the mover. Whoever you hire, ask whether the quote is binding and what could change it.

We quote every office move as a flat rate after a free walkthrough, on-site or by video. The number you approve is the number you pay.

Costs companies forget to budget for

Furniture you won’t take with you. Disposal isn’t free, but office furniture liquidation can turn some of it back into cash.
Network cutover. Movers move your equipment; your IT team or managed service provider usually handles reconnecting the network at the new space.
Lease-return work. Patching, painting, and cleaning the old space to get your security deposit back.
Certificates of Insurance. Some movers charge for COIs. Ask before you sign. Ours are free.
Downtime. For most businesses, a lost workday costs more than the move itself. Plan the move window around it.

How to lower the cost of your office move

Purge before you pack. Every box you don’t move is money saved. Start with our list of items to throw away before moving an office.
Sell or donate furniture you’re replacing instead of paying to move it.
Book early. 4–6 weeks ahead works for most office moves; 8–12 weeks for large or IT-heavy moves, or buildings with restricted move dates.
Have staff pack their own desks and leave the furniture, IT, and files to the movers.
Get your building’s requirements in writing early: COI wording, elevator booking, dock hours, and any union rules.
Insist on a walkthrough, not a phone estimate. A quote based on seeing the space is the only one worth comparing. Here’s more on choosing a mover for an office relocation.

Get a flat-rate quote for your office move

We’ve completed more than 1,000 commercial moves in NYC since 2015, from five-person startups to multi-floor headquarters. Our commercial movers in NYC start every job with a free walkthrough and a written flat-rate quote, handle the COI and building coordination, and set up your new office before your team arrives. Request your free quote.