Moving profit margin benchmarks
The IRS reports what one-owner businesses filing Schedule C earn, by sector. Moving falls under Truck transportation. For tax year 2023, 837,211 returns reported $114.4 billion in receipts, $10.6 billion in cost of sales and $11.6 billion in net income less deficit (the table gives thousands of dollars):
| Benchmark | Value |
|---|---|
| Gross margin | 90.7% |
| Net margin, owner pay included | 10.1% |
| Average receipts per return | $136,625 |
| Average net income per return | $13,823 |
The owner's own draw is not an expense on a Schedule C, so that net margin is mostly the owner's wage, not profit on top of it.
Where the money goes in moving
Local moving is labor and the truck. Jobs that run long without an hourly rate lose money.
Where moving margin leaks, and how to win it back
- Jobs that run past the estimate
- Stairs and long carries not priced
- Damage claims
- Truck costs
- Packing materials given away
Ways movers raise margin: charge by the hour with a minimum; price stairs and long carries; sell packing and materials; take a deposit on the booking.
Check your moving prices against the costs
We do not have sourced price ranges for moving services yet, so start from your own costs with the labor rate calculator and list your prices on the services list.
Work out the margin on each line of your menu, not just the big jobs. The usual moving menu: two movers and a truck; three movers and a truck; labor-only loading or unloading; full packing service; partial packing; boxes and materials; piano moving; safe moving; furniture assembly.
Overhead comes out of the margin before profit. In moving it includes general liability insurance, which Insureon's customers who are moving companies pay an average of $120 a month for; commercial auto at $876 a month on the same figures.
Work out your own margin
Put one recent moving job into the calculator above, or switch it to "My margin for the year" to set your year next to the IRS benchmark. A 50% markup is a 33% margin; the markup calculator shows the rest.
Sources
- IRS Statistics of Income: Nonfarm sole proprietorships, Table 2, income statements by industrial sector, tax year 2023, checked October 9, 2026
- IRS: SOI tax stats, nonfarm sole proprietorship statistics, checked October 9, 2026
- Insureon: Insurance cost for moving companies, checked October 9, 2026
Last checked October 9, 2026. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and differ by state and city, so confirm with the agency named before you act.