Short answer: moving an upright piano locally typically costs $150–$400; a grand piano typically costs $300–$800. Folded into a long-distance household shipment, a piano usually adds a flat $250–$400 rather than pricing separately by mileage.
What changes the price
- Stairs. Every flight beyond ground level typically adds a flat per-flight fee — a piano on a third-floor walkup costs meaningfully more than the same piano on a ground floor.
- Doorway and hallway width. Tight turns sometimes require partial disassembly (legs, lid) which adds labor time.
- Upright vs. grand. Grands need to be boarded and often crated for anything beyond a short local move, which is where most of the price gap comes from.
- Standalone vs. bundled. Moving only a piano (no other furniture) usually costs more per job than adding it to an already-scheduled full household move, since the crew and truck are already billed either way.
Piano movers vs. general movers
A standard full-service move can usually fold in an upright piano without a specialist. Grand pianos, spiral staircases, or doorways under about 30 inches are where it's worth specifically asking whether the crew has piano-specific equipment (piano board, piano dolly, rigging straps) — not every general moving crew carries it, and the ones that don't will either subcontract it or ask you to hire a dedicated piano mover separately.
Get it into your full move estimate
If you're already comparing full-service moving quotes, flag the piano at the start — it's one of the checkboxes in the calculator above — so every quote you get already accounts for it instead of showing up as a surprise line item after you've booked.