MacEwan Movers, Edmonton

Two movers and one truck, and a median of 4.5 hours on site across the 45 one-bedroom moves in the wider southwest rather than in MacEwan, which holds fewer than five at this size. Half of them ran 3 to 7.25 hours, and that spread is the whole story of a one-bedroom: the contents barely vary, so what changes is the stairs, the walk to the truck and how much was boxed before the crew arrived. The band around the $809 median runs $477 to $1,399 for the same reason.

The second bedroom is where a third mover joins: 3 movers, one truck and a median of 6.25 hours against 4.5 for a one-bedroom, across 41 completed jobs in southwest Edmonton. Half of them ran 3.5 to 7.5 hours. The extra time is a second bedroom of furniture and a fuller kitchen rather than anything harder to carry, and the third pair of hands is usually what keeps it from becoming a longer day. The median lands at $1,109, with the middle half between $601 and $1,760.

A three-bedroom house or townhouse is a full working day across southwest Edmonton: 3 movers, one truck and a median of 8 hours on site, with half of the 28 running 6 to 9.5. At this size the basement, the garage and the yard are as much of the job as the bedrooms, which is why the band opens out to $1,031 and $2,191 around a $1,585 median. A walkthrough before the date is what settles which end of that a house sits at. These are the surrounding communities' jobs, not MacEwan's.

A four-bedroom-plus house is a different kind of day: 4 movers, one truck and a median of 8.13 hours on site, with half of the 12 southwest Edmonton jobs at this size running 5.13 to 11 hours. Twelve moves is a small sample, so read the $2,232 median as the middle of a handful rather than as a rate; half of them fell between $1,249 and $2,877. The hourly rate is the one every other job is billed at, and what makes the day long is how much of the house is boxed before the crew arrives.