The Best Moving Companies in St. Louis

The cost of living for an average resident of St. Louis is $1,265 a month,¹ so the city actually has one of the lowest costs of living in the country. This monthly total includes the city’s median rent as well as the costs for a single person’s food, utilities, and vehicle fuel.

Additionally, St. Louis’ minimum wage is $11.15 an hour,² which is much higher than many other cities with sky-high living costs. These two factors together make it no wonder that St. Louis is one of the best places to live for minimum wage earners.

Yes, St. Louis’ average rent for a single-bedroom apartment increased 2.44% between 2020 and 2021 following a larger trend of rent hikes across the nation. That said, even after this increase, St. Louis’s average rent of $844.78 is still remarkably cheap compared to the rest of the country.

In fact, some cities which had much higher 2020 rent—such as Fresno, CA and Las Vegas, NV—also saw much larger increases in 2021. So even though St. Louis’ rent did go up slightly, it still has a long way to go before becoming unaffordable compared to other large American cities.

If you hire professional movers for their packing services, the movers will supply all the boxes, packing tape, and furniture blankets they’ll need for your home. However, if you opt to do all or some of the packing yourself to make your move a little cheaper, then you’ll need to rustle up the boxes yourself.

For boxing up on a budget, check out our guide to acquiring free moving boxes or our list of the best cheap moving boxes.

Alternatively, if you’ve got a little extra room in your budget for sturdy boxes that are sure to hold up to rigorous packing and travel, use our list of the best places to purchase moving boxes to get your packing supplies.

While it’s never required, tipping a moving crew like you would a waiter, a barber, or a delivery driver is both courteous and appreciated. Exactly how much you tip depends on you, though. Because moving is so expensive, the typical 15–20% rule doesn’t really apply for most moves.

We generally recommend tipping $20 per person for short moves and $40 per person for full-day moves. If your move goes longer than one whole day, tip as much as you comfortably can.

If you don’t have room in your budget to tip, you should still do something nice for your crew to reward them for their hard work. Feeding them lunch, offering them cold drinks throughout the day, and leaving stellar reviews are always much appreciated, even if you don’t tip.

To learn more about gratuities for moving crews, read our guide to tipping your movers.